Movie Review: Wake Up Sid

Amit Trivedi.

Wake Up Sid is good. And almost everything about the movie is fine. And so, I didn't know where to start. So I would start with the point, the person who impressed me the most in the entire movie. Amit Trivedi.

Though Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have taken the credit for the music composition of the movie and Amit Trivedi's name doesn't even show up on most posters, the trio's songs finish much before the end of the movie, from where, Amit Trivedi, the composer for Iktara and background score (as per initial credits) takes on and adds some 4-5 mini songs, or even full fledged songs to the 'background score', which are of course not there in the album soundtrack.

Coming back to the movie, it starts normally, with Ranbeer Kapoor acting a cool guy in college who screws up his final year exams and fails even when his dad tries to bring him to office. Ultimately the unavoidable happens and after a clash, Sid Mehra leaves home, to stay with his friend, new-girl-in-the-city, Konkona Sen Sharma.

Wake Up Sid, as expected, is the story of a rich-dad's-spoiled-son who becomes independent and successful once out in the world, while supported by a girl he falls in love with. But still, the story goes in such a way that you rarely get bored.

Coming to acting, Ranbeer Kapoor is good. But either the director didn't try to take him out of Hritik from Lakshya's first half, or Ranbeer could not do it. Whatever happened, the result is that Ranbeer many times sounds completely like Karan of Lakshya. Konkona Sen Sharma is a natural and so is Anupam Kher. Rahul Khanna hasn't got much to do in his special appearance. I think he's doing only special appearances nowadays. Supriya Pathak aka Hansa Bhabhi of Khichdi has acted her part well as the uneducated, never-say-die-English-speaking-mother of the spoiled son.

The pace of movie is a bit slow at times, but it comes back generally by the time you start realizing it. Also, the movie looks somewhat childish in the start, but as it progresses, the movie seems to be maturing with Sid. The movie reaches its peak probably at the point Ranbeer is leaving Konkona's house, and after that the movie drags a bit to an end we all know it has to reach. In short, while the monsoon makes all things good, the movie gets a bit muddy too. Rest, I can say is good and worth watching once for sure.

At the end, the same words to be repeated. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy fare well in the title song, Kya Karoon, and Aaj Kal Zindagi, but if they limit themselves there, Amit Trivedi and likes are there to cover. And then, the market of S-E-L may go down. Wake Up S-E-L.

And you, watch the movie. Watch it once. If you like, you can always see again.

Dev D: movie review

There are two types of reactions to masterpieces. Either you absolutely love them, or you absolutely hate them. So before you go for the movie, see the promos and decide which side you are on.

It was really confusing when i saw one star to dev d by Taran Adarsh and five stars by Nikhat Kazmi of ToI. But when i saw the movie, i found both the reviews were correct from different points of view depending on the viewer, though it was unpleasantly surprising that Taran opined quite like a person without pragmatism, something i don't expect from a reviewer of his stature.

Anyway, i was almost sure on which side i would be and it turned the same. I just loved the movie in all senses of word. New story, new style of telling, natural acting (at least by abhay deol and maahi gill), beautiful cinematography, and a wonderful soundtrack which has one background for everything happening in the foreground. And still it works almost perfectly. Hats off to Amit Trivedi.

Besides Amit, people who have done some wonderful work are, Amitabh Bhattacharya for lyrics varying from emosanal attyachar to saali khushi, abhay deol for being a natural again, rajeev rai for a superb choreography, and of course Anurag Kashyap for not just making the movie but for daring to make it and put his heart and soul and mind in it.

Finally, the result is the same as i told in the first line. Dev.D is almost a masterpiece which you can love or hate. If you feel it's your type, just go for it, and if you don't have that feeling, there is very little chance you'll like the movie.

Rock On: Movie review

Well, I may be biased to some extent as I was seeing the movie with my friends, before my convocation day. But there is no doubt Rock On is a good movie. And most probably more than that.

Three things that come out of Rock On!!

1. Abhishek Kapoor is a director now. He deserves to be counted.
2. Arjun Rampal is an actor now. Superb acting by him.
3. Farhaan akhtar is a singer now. I do not know the sur n taal but he rocked. Especially in Tum ho to, where his voice counts a lot more than in other songs.

Another thing that can be said about the actors' performances is that Koel Puri is more than a show girl this time and Prachi Desai is okay too. Purab Kohli can act, to some extent.

But the top credit goes somewhere else. Hats off to Shanakr Mahadevan - Ehsaan Noorani - Loy Medossa. The Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

They rock it man. They are the three, No, the one, who rocked it all the way.

Rock on is a story of friends, partners, basically a rock band who want to do it. But then they lose and then there is life. And then, through a series of incidences, the past comes in front of them.

Now, will they be able to make it?

The answer, of course, is a yes. But the way movie talks about relationships, friendships, and problems of life against one's own wishes, is what is worth seeing.

And then, the music makes is worth listening all the time. In fact, even crying out loud those songs in the crowd of a hall full of students, the way it turned out for me.

Technically speaking, the movie is quite sound. The way director unfolds the story of past is good too. Farhaan Akhtar is the film's hero and does a fine job, though there is scope for doing much, much, much better. ;)

Actors have mostly given good performances. Luke Kenny is quite good too. Cinematography is wonderful in some places, though director has mostly tried to go simple. The family tensions in Farhan's home have a bit too much of dialog that could be done better with more silence. But even with them, the movie doesn't go heavy.

The final note: If you are young, Watch it. You should like it. And if you are not young, watch it if you want to be young again.

PS: The most unique feature of the movie according to me was the one line appeal at the end. Do not download music. Buy a CD.

Well done guys. Keep rocking on!!

The Big Friday

22nd August was surely a big friday, as there were six movies lined up for a release, though some of have been rescheduled to coming week or other. What 22nd August did not see was Chamku and C Kkompany, but what it saw is no less. It was Maan Gaye Mughall e Azam, an already praised Mumbai Meri Jaan, and a hyped Phoonk.

The results have been quite okay too. While MGMA turns out to be a not-too-bad comedy, Mumbai Meri Jaan is a decent movie for those who like serious cinema. But most important of all, this Friday brings Phoonk, the black magic story, which seems to be the end of the black magic working on Ram Gopal Varma.


Phoonk has been praised by most of the critics and moviegoers are once again finding it possible to go for a RGV movie, which had in itself become a scary thing for past some time.

On the Other hand, there is Mumbai Meri Jaan, a movie that brings in five different stories which center the serial bomb blasts that took place in Mumbai local trains on July 11th 2006. Mumbai Meri Jaan is a fine work on a sensitive subject by Marathi movie director Nishikant Kamat who won Swarovski Trophy in 2006 for his film Dombivli Fast.

Jaago: Small Movies by Big Directors

A few months back I saw a short film called Positive, made by Farhan Akhtar, starring Boman Irani and Shabana Aazmi. I loved the film. Later I found there was another movie called Blood Brothers, that was around the same topic, AIDS. And today I found a blog entry on PFC that reviews both these movies along with two more. Here it is:

Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, for one of their project on helping humanity, have united with 4 directors Mira Nair, Farhan Akhtar, Santosh Sivan and Vishal Bharadwaj to co-produce 4 short films on issues regarding AIDS education and awareness. These short films are taking the AIDS awareness on more personal level with some beautiful and some incredible journeys involving blood relations, lovers and strangers with urges either sexual or just plain human.

1. Migration (2007).
Directed by: Mira Nair.
Written by: Zoya Akhtar.
Starring: Shiney Ahuja, Sameera Reddy, Irfan Khan and Raima Sen.
URL: MIGRATION

Migration is a set of parallel stories between a husband and his lover, husband?s wife, a mason worker his wife and infants. This short is very well directed, right from the drought death visuals to marine drive tides. The cinematography is eye catching. Thanks to Shiney Ahuja?s speaking eyes and Irfan Khan?s emotions for his lover, one way maybe. The core message of the story is delivered by sex education street actor Vijay Raaz with Beedi song in the background. Its the unconventional migration that is thought and written by Zoya Akhtar gives a different but convincing journey. It was exciting to see marathi stage and screen actress Sulabha Deshpande as Sameera?s mother-in-law, little has she changed from Choukat Raja?s (1991) mother.

2. Positive (2007).
Directed by: Farhan Akhtar.
Written by: Rajesh Devraj.
Starring: Boman Irani, Shabana Azmi and Arjun Mathur.
URL: POSITIVE

Positive is the story of AIDS awareness for a family as one of the members becomes HIV positive. The effects of it in a broad picture and a very tiny extremely personal point of view is very well written by Rajesh Devraj, whose future writings are Farhan Akhtar starrer Fakir of Venice and Shashanka Ghosh project Quick Gun Murugun. Boman Irani is fantastic with his lowering speaking abilities and at the same time with the desires of a young photographer to capture something. But it needed Farhan Akhtar?s trick to bring out the moment absolutely necessary for this story. The moment when Arjun?s character is positioning the rose in the window. This is perhaps the same transformation moment that occured in Dil Chahta Hai (2001) when Akash (Aamir Khan) calls up Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) only to realise subconsciously he dialed Sid?s (Akshaye Khanna) number. Incredible. Shabana Azmi is short but plays the character who has already past previously mentioned transformation.

3. Prarambha (2007).
Directed by: Santosh Sivan.
Starring: Prabhu Deva and Skandhas.
URL: PRARAMBHA

A truck driver (Prabhu Deva) finds an unknown boy Kittu (Skandhas) hiding in the back of his truck. Truck driver finds it unsolvable to get rid of an unknown boy riding with him. Kittu hands him a letter written by his mother with an address. Truck driver agrees to take him there. But then out of humanity he finds himself on a quest to make the people around Kittu realise what he feels for kittu. This movie is a cry out towards those strangers who might have some humanity left in them. Prabhu Deva does a great job. His apological and optimistic smiles are the driving force for the audience and kittu as well. Skandhas as Kittu is nothing short of a applauding performance. He represents the understanding son, rejected school friend and a happy boy. Though there aren?t many opportunities for Mr Sivan to use his lens he still captures the moments that do not need words.

4. Blood Brothers (2007).
Directed by: Vishal Bharadwaj.
Story idea by: Matthew Robbins and Ajit Ahuja.
Starring: Siddharth, Pavan Malhotra and Ayesha Takia.
URL: Blood Brothers

This story brings in the most courageous factor in the AIDS awareness. The point of view of the main victim, the one with the disease. This is the best short among the four. An ordinary man hears his doctor say that he is HIV positive. Devastated by the news he gives up on his life to find something that out smarts him. This is an absolutely astonishing story. This movie proves the fact that you do not need 1000 cuts in a 5 min movie to make it interesting. Though non-linearity exists in the narration it never seems a cliche by the creation of scars on Siddharth?s faces. This short challenges the viewer by putting in the shoes of the protagonist and ask them what if? Kudos to Mr Bharadwaj. This one is a must see.

Overall rating: 8/10.

Original text here. You can also search for these movies on Youtube yourself. They are there too.

Mumbai Meri Jaan

It was a movie I had loved the promo of. Recently I found a review by Anurag Kashyap on in.com which is here.

Possibly India?s ?Crash?.. or i don?t know how else to describe it..Saw the rough cut , on Nishikant?s avid.. he wanted to bounce it off me and i was cleanbowled.. again the familiar feeling went through me.. why did i not think of it and why did i not make it..

The film begins in a police station with cops discussing sunil more(the marine drive rape case), one(Vijay maurya) of who is going on a holiday and the other(Paresh Rawal) counting his last few days in the service..then it introduces us to the computer salesman(kaykay) with his unemployed friends in a irani cafe talking about cricket and you also see that he has a phobia of muslims or probably distrust and hatred, then you see the bicycle coffeeseller (Irrfan) who is fond of perfumes and then the film introduces us to the bite hungry TV journo(soha ali khan) and her boyfriend who disapproves of her job and how they are indifferent to the the subjects of their story and she defends it (before she herself becomes a story) and finally we see the US phobic executive(madhavan) who prefers to commute to his work by local train and not invest in a car.. and then Nishikant tells us the day and date of all these random observations into the life of people..

It?s the 9th of july 2006.. the numerous blasts in the train and what it brought out in people.. some of them victims.. their fear and paranoia.. Kaykay is sure that the suspicious muslim guy who hangs out at the irani cafe is one of the perpetrators of the tragedy and his subsequent rage and loss of innocence.. Madhavan?s mortal fear of trains.. his unaware pregnant wife of the tragedy that almost missed him.. Irrfan wanting to avenge his humiliation in front of his family by the floor incharge of the perfume section by figuring out a dangerous game that he can play with the paranoid distrusting police and administration.. the wisdom of the retiring cop always in confrontation with the idealistic cop who had to cancel his holiday.. and the tv journo who has now become the story.. anger,humility, fear and fearlessness, paranoia, self realizations, hate and self loathing, all surface over the facade of the perfect lie of a life we dream of in a metropolis..

It tells us of a beautiful time and the way city was before the national security became the ultimate excuse for invasion of privacy and privacy became such an aspiring word..Outstanding performances by a stellar cast and the best ever of their lives by Paresh rawal and Soha Ali Khan.. an incredible and courageous followup to DOMBIVALI FAST by NISHIKANT KAMAT..

The kind of a film that we all need to go see it in theatres and take our friends along with us, this film needs our effort for the sake of the kind of cinema we talk animatedly about. Spread the good word.

Find the original review here.

And the Winner is...

It's not the results of filmfare or national awards, or any other awards for that matter. The question was, who will be the winner of this July 4th. And the results are out now. Well, almost.

The reviews of the two movies, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Love Story 2050 are not much surprising. Not for me at least. The bottom line goes as, Jaane Tu.. is worth a watch but Love Story 2050 goes only on the shoulders of VFX n all. Though, expectably again, Harman Baweja is considered to be a lambi-race-ka-ghoda by most.

The result of the two movies' battle can be well understood by seeing the verdicts given by the front running reviewers. For example, Taran Adarsh has called Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na a breezy entertainer which will be loved by its target audience, whereas Love Story 2050 review ends with 'Disappointing!' as he finds the movie 'rests on a thin plot'.

Indiatimes says that 'JTYJN definitely deserves a watch... and not just for Imran' whereas it claims Harman would certainly need some luck.

Also, the reviewers have once again made it clear that AR Rehman's music in Jaane Tu.. has given it a certain edge over its rival which seems to have relied too much over technology.

Now, the final verdict will be given by the public. Let's see what the public says. Because 'Public sab jaanti hai.'

Tashan

Ever had the cheap namkeen at the thela in a corner in the market? It has a lot of spice there, with not much substance, surely nothing for your health, and while you reach the end of the packet, there's so much of spice only that it gets unbearable. Though, some people like it a lot.

I think Tashan resembles that namkeen very much. Even though the cover resembles that of Haldiram's or Bikanerwala.

The director Vijay Krishna Acharya has put every spice in the movie, and until you reach the extremely spicy end of it, the movie is bearable, and at times interesting.

Well, with Tashan, Hindi cinema gets a Rajnikant of its own, at least in terms of action. As Bachchan Pande aka Akshay Kumar fights and beats up some 10-12 black cat commandos and takes a pole off the earth (inspired by Sunny Deol of course) Kanpur gets a star for the place as Saif claims he should be either dangerous (Anil Kapoor in background) or clever (Kareena in background) or Kanpuriya (Akshay in background) after the fight sequence.

The bikini clad Kareena in Chhaliya attracts like anything for sure and even other songs are a pretty much on the good side. Though not very well placed in the movie, the songs are well placed as far as locations of the world are concerned. The cinematography is wonderful and so is the background score.

Kareena has acted just fine. Saif hasn't got much except Kareena and Anil seems to be overpowering Sanjay Dutt playing a successful don for the second time, after welcome. The entry of Akshay Kumar in the movie promises a new era but it turns out to be fake as the movie gets into too much of Rajnikant-sunny deol-and more action and the end sequence removes any good flavor the movie had given you.

In all, Tashan is all good in the first half if you do not use your mind and just bearable on the start of second half, but in the end it gets to your nerves.

Still, with all odds, it must be kept in mind that a good movie and a hit have no connection and Tashan is all set to prove that yet again as I hope it will be a hit even with all the action and reaction. And at the end it will be Vijay Krishna Acharya singing Tashan mein.

U me aur hummm....

Tu meri khamoshiyon ka, saaz hai
Teri lafzon mein meri aawaaz hai
Raaz ye sabhi hum tum,
Jaan lein abhi hum tum.

Teri aasoo ki ladi,
Meri aankhon se bahe
Har khushi chhoti badi,
tere hoton pe rahe,

O chal yun jeeyein,
Sau, gham bhi ho gar,
aankh nam bhi ho par,
Dil, dil hi rahe,
Milke saare khwaab jeeyein
Milke sabhi bharam
U me aur hum?

These are the lines I love the most while I listen to U me aur hum. But the lines weren't there in the movie. Still, I loved the movie.

Though it wasn't as such a perfect sort of movie, neither can we compare Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgan at their debuts, yet I'd say it was a great effort from the actor.

In fact after seeing the movie U may feel that he has learnt making movies pretty fast as u can feel how good the second half of the movie is, compared to first one.

The best part of the movie: Kajol. Second best being the title song, especially by Vishal.

Worst: A few extra songs.

And the credit goes to: Ajay Devgan. Very much for making such a fine movie especially after losing it in the start.

Unnoticed credits: Monty Sharma, for a good background score. And lacs of SMS addicts, for dialogs.

My opinion: Worth a watch. Will be all the more good if u have a remote with the first half. But if u r a Kajol fan, u can watch it anyways.

Khoya Khoya Chand

Opinions matter. As long as they do not clash with those of mine.

I hadn't heard a good word about Khoya Khoya Chand except for from Mittal who had seen the movie just a day before myself. But when I saw the movie I didn't find anything wrong with the movie. I liked the movie a lot actually.

Though I had seen the movie in three rounds, yet I can say I wouldn't have had a problem seeing it in one sitting. In fact the times I closed my media player, it wasn't that easy because I wanted to continue.

I'm not sure why people didn't like the movie but probably it was because of the mixed up relations that might have confused people.

What I liked in the movie was the superb direction of the times gone and the depths of the industry and the personal grudges of professional people.

But above all, the best thing of the movie was the clash of the egos that is capable of creating troubles among lovers and bringing enemies together.

Shiney Ahuja is good as always but Soha is much better compared to her previous performances. Vinay Pathak is the most convincing in his role even though Saurabh Shukla hasn't lived up to his own brand. Rajat Kapoor lives his role yet another time. Soniya Jehan too is not bad.

Sushmita Mukerjee hardly gets a role but plays it as good as possible. The unknown N Ganguly has been pretty good with his small role.

The background of the movie is almost perfect as far as I could see it. Dialogues are impressive in places.

But the movie is a flop. Probably because it was not an entertainer and probably because it was not for all those who saw it.

Or probably I've been very wrong somewhere.

Still, I think if you do not have problems in watching 'offbeat' movies, you should watch it.