The Dirty Picture - Movie Review - Vidya Balan All The Way !!!

The Dirty Picture - Movie Review - Vidya Balan All The Way !!!

A film producer, desperately seeking a hit, sees a starlet in the smalltime but sexy and extremely ambitious girl Reshma. He immediately rechristens her as Silk. She instantaneously renames him as keeda (worm) justifying that keede hi toh banate hain silk (worms produce silk). That smart and symbolic line pretty much sums up the bigger picture behind the dirty picture. The supposedly decent and respectable society is the one that makes a Silk out of Reshma and sex-symbol out of Silk.

This is the rise and fall story of a nonentity who turns the biggest sex-symbol in cinema, loosely modeled on the lines of real-life temptresses of the 80s like Silk Smitha and Disco Shanti. Reshma (Vidya Balan) might not have admirable acting abilities but sure knows how to use her sexual charm to her benefit - both onscreen and offscreen. That gives her an easy entry into the cine-world and soon she starts dominating film posters and ruling hearts of her fans.

But the same people, who make a star out of her, pull her down subsequently. Superstar Suryakant (Naseeruddin Shah) sees this woman as a potential threat to his stardom and decides to clip her wings. Even Ramakant (Tusshar Kapoor), who loves her, ditches her for her indulgence in substance abuse. On the contrary, filmmaker Abraham (Emraan Hashmi), the man who hated her the most, gets attracted towards her.

Director Milan Luthria has complete control over the subject matter in almost every aspect - whether it's the story, grammar of milieu or exploring the psyche of the female protagonist. In his biographical account of a sex-symbol, while he explores the sensual side of Vidya Balan to the hilt, at the same time he also shows utmost sensitivity in not exploiting the premise in a way that the film turns vulgar in itself. From heaving bosom, plunging necklines, dumpy hemlines, sexy waistlines, smooching scenes to physical intimacy - the film has it all. But the intentional indecency is supported by a decent story so the skin-show never comes across as shameless sleaze. The barefaced demeanour of the film candidly highlights the exploits of the industry and the unapologetic attitude of its female protagonist. And since the film is more a behind-the-scene account of Silk than her onscreen antics, it touches more than titillating.

Rajat Arora's writing starts off promisingly and runs on a rapid pace, spanning the entire film career of Silk. The film keeps you riveted with its breakneck scene-flow and some innovative writing. Dialogues, undoubtedly, are Arora's mainstay and he ensures a dramatic punch in almost every line of the film, which elevates the overall impact to an altogether different level. While his lines are mostly metaphoric, there are also some suggestive gems in the continual verbal combats of the film. But after a point, one feels that the lines are slightly overwritten when they start defining the scenes over the screenplay, per se.

The upsurge of Silk's stardom has a steady graph though the ensuing downfall seems somewhat hurried and abrupt. With the customary elements of success-getting-into-head and alcoholism and anger ruining her career, somewhere the film turns into a regular rise-n-fall story and loses its USP. However that's a part-n-parcel of a story like this. Also the Vidya-Emraan romance track seems slightly forced to culminate the plot. The climactic scene where a self-disgusted Silk isn't able to face her reflection seems straight out of Priyanka Chopra's Fashion. But above all that, what acts as a bigger letdown is that there isn't a defined or convincing enough conflict in the climax that makes way for the tragic end that the film opts for.

The art direction of the film is immaculate as it correctly brings out the flamboyant and larger-than-life film industry of the 80s. Niharika Khan's costume designs that put the cleavages, midriffs and bra-straps to constant display perfectly complement with the sex-symbol image of Silk. Akiv Ali edits the film through crisp scenes and frequent montages, never letting the biographical account seem unending. Bappi Lahiri's Oh La La and the South chartbuster Nakka Mukka are skillfully incorporated in backdrop to add effect. 

It goes without saying that the film belongs to Vidya Balan and she does absolute justice in playing her part to perfection. Not only is she bold in terms of her body language, she comes up with an audacious act and brings out the inner turmoil and pathos of her character effortlessly. Emraan Hashmi is most effective amongst the male leads and makes his presence felt in this female-dominated drama with his natural act. Naseeruddin Shah as an ageing superstar is hilarious in his heroic antics and vicious in his manipulative ways. Tusshar Kapoor is average. Rajesh Sharma as the South producer and Anju Mahendroo as the venomous journalist are effective.

Vidya Balan makes the dirty picture a beautiful experience. Picture mein dum hain!


Courtesy - The Times of India.

Rockstar - Movie Review - A Class Film

'Yeh bada jaanwar hai. Yeh chhote pinjre mein nahi samayega.'

Indeed, Ranbir Kapoor is not an everyday occurrence. He's proved himself to be more than a portfolio and a surname with his absolutely marvelous ability to connect with the audience in a brand new skin each and every time. And that he's accomplished this in merely four years and 9 films is no mean feat.  Therefore, even though, the above-mentioned prediction, coming in the astute words of Shammi Kapoor, is meant for the unruly, untamed genius of Janardhan Jakhar aka Jordan, it holds true for his grand nephew as well. Our lad is meant for epic things.

Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar gives us a fair glimpse of that and more in a film that rides and roars on the strength of its leading man and composer A R Rahman, the twain dominate its every breathing, beautifully-lit frame (courtesy Anil Mehta's cinematography). As the behind-the-scenes Jordan, Rahman's contribution to this visual, vivacious, volatile treat is invaluable; the maestro conveys a myriad of moods, ranging from amorous to divine to ferocious to quixotic to melancholic, reflecting the erratic emotional graph of Ranbir's character.

For all those who expect it to be a contrived rags-to-riches story of how a gifted artist attains giddy heights of adulation, sells his soul to sex and drugs only to walk the path of destruction, delusion and redemption, all I can say is, get over Madhur Bhandarkar! Even though it's been projected as a tell-all tale of how a rebellious musician came into being, Rockstar is essentially a love story between two very curious individuals with an insuppressible connection and predilection for audacious to-do-lists.

In the tradition of Korean romances, the story is steeped in demure, picture perfect passions and unforeseen tragedy with Imtiaz-flavoured interjections every now and then. (As an interesting co-incidence, the filmmaker's next project is an official remake of a South Korean flick, My Girlfriend is an Agent.)

From an oafish North Delhi boy, sporting what looks like Big B's hand-me-down sweaters from Trishul, fishing for heartbreak at his mentor's suggestion in order to acquire a cool image like his idol Jim Morrison to an unshaven, troubled, defiant, long-haired music sensation with a peculiar, rustic wardrobe, the making of Janardhan Jakhar to Jordan is an offshoot of his fickle equation with the woman he loves.

Imtiaz chooses to keep it strictly about Jordan and his disastrous coming-of-age, blurring every other character or event in his life that doesn't take the story forward. The disjointed narrative cuts back and forth between flashbacks to present, across various locations -- Delhi, Kashmir, Prague and Rome -- in a perennial state of winter, to sketch a deliberately haphazard picture of its wounded hero.

Things aren't always so bleak. As a matter of fact, a major chunk of Rockstar is brimming with a wit and chutzpah that is characteristic of Imtiaz's street-smart, local-flavoured humor.

Among its many laugh out loud moments, is one where Ranbir walks into the college canteen with mock sadness written all over his face. He believes he's successfully achieved Mission Heartache following an altercation with the campus hottie, Heer (Nargis Fakhri). And what are the first words to come out of the despairing fella? 'Itni si chutney mein do samosa khaon mein?'

Like most Imtiaz heroines, Heer is a closet drifter who wants to engage in every conceivable wild activity from desi porn to desi daru (country liquor) before she heads for a decidedly conservative lifestyle in Prague. Newcomer Nargis Fakhri ,who plays her, is a breathtaking beauty with a fair amount of screen presence. And even though her voice is dubbed by a grating someone else and her reaction while watching Jungli Jawani is akin to a school kid enjoying the circus, Nargis exudes a muted confidence and vanilla quality that is reminiscent of an earlier Katrina Kaif.

The youngster shares an explosive chemistry with her co-star, which makes the impulses of their characters, however morally questionable, easy to believe and accept. Kudos to Imtiaz for handling the intimacy and rush of their most sexual urges with elegance and sensitivity.  

Together with Nargis, Ranbir pays Shammi Kapoor (making his final movie appearance) a beautiful tribute that celebrates the verve of the late legend and the dramatic scenery of Kashmir (Mehta's spectacular, snow-clad aerial shots of the lost paradise are alone worth the price of admission). The Yahoo star has not more than five scenes but every time he shows up, it's a moment to devour and cheer in awe and admiration.

Rockstar isn't entirely above flaws though. The irregular narrative could do with some smooth editing avoiding the uneven, jerky feel to the proceedings.

At some point, Jordan's deterioration starts to slip into a well of incoherence and stylish albeit long-winded symbolism involving guitar-in-flames and slo-mo vomit cutting to nifty shots of a shattered Jordan delivering a high-adrenalin stage act or entering a cheekily-documented scrap with the ever-snooping paparazzi.

But this figurative yet electrifying ambiguity only adds to the enigma of Jordan and his offended heart that glowers at everyone for his previously desired misery. Now that he's truly in a rotten place, he doesn't know what to do. This chaos of the mind is perceptively captured in a scene where a crushed and confused Ranbir explains his bewilderment to his sympathetic but powerless mentor turned manager ( Kumud Mishra is a revelation).

Rockstar, like Mani Ratnam's Dil Se.. or Ashutosh Gowarikar's Swades, is a heart-felt, inflexible vision of an insightful filmmaker. It is bound to generate polarizing responses. Either you will be able to hear the unsaid, draw your own subtext, understand Jordan's disdain for the system, disregard for his fans, sense the reason for the lingering rejection of his family and girl , read his eyes, see the pain and  feel his need to be treated normally again. 

Or you will nitpick where he took his guitar lessons, why don't we ever see him talk to his mother, why did he not reveal his true feelings to Heer earlier on, why doesn't he care for idolisation, why are Heer's folks so benign and inconsequential, why does the film end without any drama or dhan-te-nan?

Make your own answers. Because, at the end of the day, this is Ranbir's tour de force and there's nothing derivative about his performance, which aspires to be a reference point in its own. Whether he's the guideless lout from St Stephen's, a subject of indignation at the hands of his family, a lovelorn Romeo barred from consummating his relationship or a badass, unwilling rockstar. Ranbir's heads-on approach to Jordan is rich in texture, nuances and caliber placing him far ahead of his immediate colleagues and in direct contention with the Khans, in bent if not box-office.

As the end credits roll, you walk out with an invisible bandana endorsing the mega Kapoor humming a verse from a song by his alter ego's idol:

The days are bright and filled with pain
Enclose me in your gentle rain
The time you ran was too insane
We'll meet again, we'll meet again.


Courtesy: Rediff.com

RA.One - The Review - An unusual SRK Film

RA.One - The Review - An unusual SRK Film

Shah Rukh Khan’s ambitious film ‘RA.One’ has all the ingredients of a blockbuster film. Thrilling action sequences, mind blowing special effects, foot tapping numbers and SRK romancing Kareena Kapoor. But yet, inspite of all this, ‘RA.One’ falls short somewhere. 

In the garb of a futuristic film which boasts of mind blowing special effects, the story remains the same old one and in fact is a mixture of some world class sci-fi films. So in the entire film, one can find traces of ‘Terminator’, ‘Biccentinial Man’, ‘Matrix’ and amusingly, our very own ‘Robot’.


The plot is pretty simple. On the behest of his son Prateik (Armaan Verma), Shekhar Subramaniam (Shah Rukh Khan), the geeky gaming expert creates an anti hero who is invincible. Hell breaks lose when the anti hero RA.One (Arjun Rampal) manages to come out of the virtual world and enter the real world. And to protect the mayhem that ensues, G.One (SRK again) comes to protect the world.


The clashes between the hero and the antagonist work well. Due to his uncanny similarity to Shekhar who is now dead, Sonia (Kareena Kapoor), his widow finds herself warming up to G.One. Infact, G.One the robot also develops an emotional and protective bond for Sonia and her son. 


The film has its moments but they are far and few in between. Some of the scenes are surely entertaining but when one goes to watch a SRK film, one hopes to be entertained throughout, and sadly ‘RA.One’ fails to do so.


Music by Vishal Shekhar is splendid. But songs appear out of no where and for no reason as such. The high point is surely the AKON number-‘Chammak Challo’. Director Anubhav SInha falters mainly due to a hollow script. It fails to leave an impact of any kind.


For SRK fans, it is a film which has the superstar in a new avatar. Of that of an action star. But somehow, SRK’s loverboy acts surpasses his action hero image any day.
Watch it for the special effects and for ‘Chammak Challo’. Don’t expect it to woo you the way other SRK films do, because it isn’t the same.


Courtesy - Zee News.

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Courageous: Film Review (Alex Kendrick, Ken Bevel)

This faith-based film from the filmmaking offshoot of Albany, Georgia’s Sherwood Church, goes after the issue of fatherhood and the responsibilities that come with it. 

NEW YORK — This faith-based drama is the latest and most ambitious effort from Sherwood Pictures, the filmmaking offshoot of Albany, Georgia’s Sherwood Church. Like their previous independent hits, Facing the Giants and Fireproof, Courageous seems well poised to tap into a theatrical market starved for such fare, with even greater potential for DVD sales.


Another collaboration between brothers Alex (director, co-writer, actor) and Stephen Kendrick (producer, co-writer), the film is set in the small town of Albany and concerns the interactions among four sheriff’s deputies and a Hispanic immigrant desperate for work. The theme — hammered home repeatedly — is fatherhood, and the responsibilities that come with it.


Courageousreveals the duo’s growing expertise as filmmakers with its skillful blending of moving drama, subtle comedy and several impressive action sequences, including a well-staged foot chase and a harrowing shootout between the cops and bad guys.


The characters are complex and well-drawn, struggling with various personal issues that test their faith and character in believable ways. But the episodic and frequently melodramatic storyline contains enough incidents and subplots to fill an entire television season. A key story element -- involving the male characters pledging to sign a “resolution” affirming their fatherly duties and their faith in God — seems both artificial and a cribbing from the “Love Dare” featured so prominently in Fireproof.


The performances are effective all around with director Kendrick quite moving in the central role of Adam, the veteran officer, who suffers a horrific family tragedy that sets much of the film’s plot in motion.


Non-Christian audiences may be put off by the endless proselytizing on display, which feels more drawn out and overt here than in the church’s previous films. But the generous laughter, cheers and applause generated by the crowd at an opening day screening demonstrate that these enterprising Baptist filmmakers clearly know their audience.

COURAGEOUS TRAILER

Mausam: The Review (Sonam Kapoor & Shahid Kapoor)

Shahid’s 'Mausam' opens with a bang but does nothing to go beyond the highest expectation that has been built upon.

This delicate love story is seemingly disconnected with fragments of the worst events of inter communal riots and zigzags into an ascetic grouping of other tragedies. 

The treatment would have been different if the director hadn’t grafted the seasons of love with communal events like the Babri Masjid demolition, Kargil war, the 9/11 attacks, and the Godhra riots.

The director has weaved characters that are powerful, yet the film has loose ends since the screenplay could have been tighter. There is no question that Pankaj Kapoor's directorial debut has the mixture of appealing innocence and worldliness to it but it does nothing to strike a lasting impression.

Loves stories have always been a staple for young audiences and the director has handled the romantic angle in the first half in a promising way. He has shown the young pair Harry (Shahid Kapoor) and Kashmiri Muslim girl Aayat Khan (Sonam Kapoor) being struck by cupid in a small town in Punjab and they communicate by exchanging notes. 

Their love blossoms when they meet at a typical Punjabi wedding, however their romance is short lived as destiny separates them soon.

The story per se would certainly not connect in the age of social media since the couple’s love affair goes skewed not just due to circumstances but also because they don’t know each other’s forwarding address.

Fortunately, these two meet after 7 years in Scotland but yet again they are separated.

Bright Spots

The first half of 'Mausam' has a realistic breadth of fresh air and the director has suffused enough scenes in the movie with cinematic potential. However, you only like those certain scenes, such as the one were Harry and his friends chew sugarcane in the mustard fields, drive around in an impala, and when the romance between Harry and Aayat begins. 

Music director Pritam and cameraman Binod Pradhan have done well and deserve mention. The songs Tashan and Rabba are melodious and hum worthy. The cinematography carries rich flavor. Reasonably taut editing by A. Sreekar Prasad makes it entertaining.

Blooper

Thoughtfully shot ‘Mausam’ lacks substance and the writing and screenplay is a big downer and comes to be erroneous. The film’s length that is padded to be over long 3 hours that makes it exhausting. Portraying the character of lovers, Shahid and Sonam look good but undeniably lack chemistry.

Performance wise

The intense and engaging tale veers into a mix of uncontrollable socio-political specifics. Shahid Kapoor tosses off an accomplished performance as a pilot. The actor rises above the script’s inconsistencies. 

While Sonam looks charming with feminine grace, she does not convince with her acting. Supriya Pathak and Manoj Pahwa come through well.

Storyline

The film opens up in the early 90’s with Harinder Singh aka Harry (Shahid Kapoor), and a Kashmiri Muslim girl, Aayat (Sonam Kapoor). Harry is waiting for a call from the Indian Air Force, while the Kashmiri Muslim girl has left her place due to terrorist attacks. She comes to stay with her aunt Supriya Pathak) at the Punjab countryside. Fate brings the two together and the couple fall head over heels in love with each other.

But before they completely get to know each other, the romance is impinged as Aayat leaves the countryside and moves to an unknown destination without informing. The years pass by, Harry has finally become an IAF pilot and is stationed in Scotland where he meets Aayat again.

The couple vouches to settle down and Aayat waits for Harry to come and ask for her hand in marriage during dinner. However, fate separates them again, since Harry has to leave for India as Kargil war begins. The lovers separate and Aayat comes in search of Harry to his village Mallukot and fails to meet Harry and gets to know that the letter she’d written never reached him.

Meanwhile, Harry gets to meet Aayat in Switzerland but assumes her cousin to be her husband. But the estranged lovers meet again, this time it is during the communal riots in Gujarat where we see a little older Shahid with a paralyzed left hand.

Bottom-line

The first half hour blends to be enjoyable while the second half of the film ebbs and flows to be erratic. Expected to provide an entertaining outing, Mausam is predictable and marred due to the length of the film. But the director reasonably impresses with the dialogues.

Mausam may not be your cup of tea, but the film is a worthy watch.

THE LION KING 3D – The Review

Animation has come a long way since THE LION KING seemed so state-of-the-art. THE LION KING was the second-highest grossing film of 1994, and at the time the record-holder for most successful animated feature ever released (before Pixar). Everything about Disney’s 32nd animated feature seemed embellished with epic, visual weight. I’ll take it for granted that most people know the story of Simba and his journey to become ruler of The Pride Lands. Eschewing fairy tales, Disney’s usual bread and butter for cartoon musicals, THE LION KING was based on an original script by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. The plot, derived from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, classical mythology, and African folk tales, was heavier , darker, and more adult than most Disney stories. Then there were those eye-popping cinematic pans across the African plains and the computer-enhanced sequence featuring the stampeding wildebeest which was nothing short of breathtaking. And of course there was Scar, as richly voiced by Jeremy Irons. The wicked lion was one of the best Disney villains ever, certainly the best of the ’90s. Tim Rice and Elton John’s songs (and the score by Hans Zimmer) comprised Disney’s all-time bestselling soundtrack CD spawning the hit songs “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” “The Circle of Life”, and a hit Broadway musical in 1997 that’s still running.

Animation technology has certainly dated THE LION KING visually, but the script, the spectacular action set pieces, and a beautifully rendered sense of place have withstood the test of time. Now Disney has decided not to leave well enough alone. THE LION KING opens in theaters again today, this time retrofitted in 3D. It’s not the first time the studio has tinkered with this property. The 2003 DVD release added a new song and corresponding animation but the original version was included with the new disc for the purists. Unfortunately the purists who don’t care for 3D (and there are a lot out there) don’t have a choice today. If they want to see the new revamped THE LION KING, 3D is the only option. So, how is the 3D? Is it enough to warrant paying to see these movies again on the big screen? The animation, while superb, doesn’t have the intricate shading of modern computer animated films. Instead the action exists on different visual layers and it’s those planes that had to be painstakingly converted to employ the gimmick since animators almost twenty years ago had no idea this was feasible (3D existed then but was considered a dead gimmick). In a usual 2D animation you might see Scar for example, with mountains behind him and some fire. Though drawn on layers, they were composited for the final film and for 3D to work there needs to be different layers. The computer artisans at Disney took each piece of the action and composited them to look three dimensional. Some of the scenes had over 100 layers so this new version required a lot of labor and expense. It works in the sense that there is a great deal of depth now, but it doesn’t add all that much and I’m not sure if it’s really worth the extra three bucks. Having said that, simply the opportunity to see THE LION KING in theaters is cause for celebration especially if you were too young the first time or have kids of your own.

The Lion King 3D Trailer

My Name Is Khan (MNIK) - Reviews

Anupama Chopra : movies.ndtv.com

Rizwan is undeniably the best thing about My Name is Khan. Shah Rukh’s performance has little subtlety about it – for that watch Hugh Dancy doing Asperger’s in Adam – but it is heartfelt, endearing and more controlled than anything he’s ever done before. Watch him in a lovely scene in which Kajol accepts his proposal or how he restrains his tears so that his eyes brim but never well over.

I recommend that you see Khan for him. The film itself is too uneven to give us the emotional high we were waiting for.

Taran Adarsh : Bollywoodhungama.com

On the whole, MY NAME IS KHAN is a fascinating love story, has an angle of religion and a world-shaking incident as a backdrop. It not only entertains, but also mesmerises, enthrals and captivates the viewer in those 2.40 hours. At the same time, a film like MY NAME IS KHAN is sure to have a far-reaching influence due to its noble theme. I strongly advocate, don’t

miss this one!

Harshita Kohli : Starboxoffice.com

Kajol is brilliant and this time her eyes do a lot more tlaking than her words. Watch out for the change in emotions reflected so beautifully in her eyes as the film goes through its turmoils. The screenplay clearly shows that both Shibani Bathija and Karan Johar have done their research and done it well. You can see that in SRK’s mannerisms and in the bigger picture.

But the true credit of the film goes to only one person – Shah Rukh Khan. Shah Rukh Khan carries the story entirely on his shoulder without any crutches of make-up and prosthetics, his signature lover boy image left at the door along with the designer clothes or larger than life dialogues.