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> New Bollywood Movies Reviews, Press reviews and Members' reviews - pls share
Sharmila-Sweet
post May 18 2012, 04:01 PM
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Department
By Taran Adarsh, 18 May 2012, 10:54 hrs IST


For a really long time, he has been attempting the kind of movies he aspires to make, with not much concern for the BO. The uneven response to his last few films at the ticket window hasn't shaken the confidence that viewers have in his abilities. His past few films were nowhere close to SHIVA, RANGEELA, SATYA, COMPANY, BHOOT, SARKAR, SARKAR RAJ and RAKTA CHARITRA-I, but regardless of the BO outcome, Ramgopal Varma is one film-maker who continues to make movies that he believes in.

Earlier, in NOT A LOVE STORY and now, in DEPARTMENT, RGV has dared to re-invent the cinematic language by changing the visual imagery. While the visual style is worth applauding and catches your eye instantly -- RGV has filmed in angles not witnessed before in Hindi films -- it's the erratic and inconsistent writing that bogs down DEPARTMENT.

No one illustrates the underbelly of crime on celluloid as persuasively as RGV. The issue with DEPARTMENT is *not* the beaten to death genre, but the screenplay that has nothing novel to offer. Encounter specialists, ruthless gangsters, inter-gang rivalry, corrupt politicians… haven't we had our fill already? One could never lay blame on RGV for taking the tried and tested route, opting for easy shortcuts while narrating a story. But, in DEPARTMENT, all you remember is style, while the substance goes for a toss.

Alarmed at the hitherto unseen escalation in underworld criminal activities, the government officials hold a secret meeting in which they take a decision to create a new unit which is unofficially referred to as 'Department'. This special task force is formed to clean up the muck caused by gangsters.

DEPARTMENT throws light on the power struggle that exists in the police department and one expects RGV to narrate a story we haven't heard or witnessed before. Sadly, the already exhausted genre curtails the maverick film-maker to spring surprises. To put it bluntly, DEPARTMENT is old wine packaged in a brand new bottle. Right from the characters, which we have witnessed in soooo many films of this genre, to the twists and turns in the story, RGV borrows from the past endeavors, instead of moving frontward. Besides, in an attempt to make it more mass-friendly, more 'commercial', RGV forcibly injects a couple of songs in the narrative [barring 'Cheeni', filmed on an alluring Nathalia Kaur] that are completely unwelcome in an enterprise that's out to depict realism.

DEPARTMENT is soaked in high-voltage drama and action, with a consistent undercurrent of tension. As a matter of fact, there's an overdose of action in the film, though, I must admit, a few action pieces, especially the final showdown between Sanju and Rana, is deftly executed. But the absence of a riveting and absorbing screenplay looms large in the post-interval portions. Sure, some sequences do hit you hard, but the writing tilts heavily towards been-there-seen-that kind of situations persistently, promising little or no surprise as the plot unravels. RGV's obsession with the camera is evident here as well. He does away with the usual visual language this time, which is sure to win him admirers. The background score [Dharam-Sandeep] enhances the impact, while the dialogue are power-packed at times, but plain mediocre at places.

The central characters get extensive scope and absolutely surrender to RGV's vision. Amitabh Bachchan is remarkably credible. Sanjay Dutt stands out with a prominent performance. But it is Rana Dagubatti who surfaces as an accomplished actor. Rana has remarkable screen charisma and is convincing in his superior portrayal of a cop.

Vijay Raaz's character lacks meat. Abhimanyu Singh enacts his part with gusto. Madhu Shalini [Abhimanyu's love interest] catches your eye. Laxmi Manchu [Sanju's wife] is proficient. Anjana Sukhani underplays her part wonderfully. Deepak Tijori doesn't get much scope.

On the whole, DEPARTMENT is neither novel, nor experimental, but a return to the tried and tested formula. Disappointing!
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Sharmila-Sweet
post Jun 4 2012, 10:53 AM
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http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=714

Rowdy Rathore review
(Action) Saibal Chatterjee
Friday, June 01, 2012

2/5



Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha
Director: Prabhu Deva


An air of unabashed, if generally harmless, imbecility pervades Rowdy Rathore. With very little substance to play around with, the film spreads itself dangerously thin. But even when it teeters on the brink of snapping point, it hurtles along like an armoured vehicle on four flat tyres. It makes much din but covers little ground.

Let’s hand it to director Prabhu Deva. He throws every trick that he knows in the book into this predictable remix of a Telugu hit – song, dance, crass humour, romance, thunderous action and a fearless supercop out to outsmart a bunch of murderous marauders.

It’s the good old unstoppable all-or-nothing approach. Prabhu Deva obviously has no faith in any form of subtlety. He goes the whole hog and revels in unbridled excess every step of the way.

Actually, for a film of this kind, a cross between Dabangg and Singham with stray traces of Agneepath, over-the-top methods are par for the course. Some of them do pass muster.

Rowdy Rathore is a shrill action flick designed to help Akshay Kumar return to his hit-making ways. Accept that obvious intent and you might actually end up enjoying certain parts of the film against your own better counsel. Isn’t that the effect that many a Bollywood potboiler of the 1980s would have on us?

Yes, Rowdy Rathore employs narrative elements that hark back to a bygone era of Bollywood potboilers: two men who look like each other without any apparent reason, a bunch of baddies that snarl and snap at the slightest provocation and indulge in rape and pillage with abandon, and the good old back-from-the-dead revenge seeker who goes back dispensing rough-and-ready justice.

The only surprise that the film springs is in the opening credits: SLB, maker of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas, is one of the producers of this no-holds-barred entertainer designed for easy mass consumption.

The first half of the film ambles through an hour and a bit of mostly insignificant narrative detail, including the circumstances in which the male protagonist, a small-time Mumbai conman Shiva (Akshay Kumar), meets and falls in love with Paro (Sonakshi Sinha), a pretty girl from Patna who is in town for a wedding.

It is only in the second half that Rowdy Rathore gets down to serious business as the action moves to a hamlet called Devgarh where a rural tyrant, Baapji (Tamil character actor Nasser), calls the shots. Cops shiver in front of him and his lecherous men, and a minister dances to his tune. The villagers are mere lambs to the slaughter.

Away from this hell-hole, Shiva is taken by surprise when a little girl mistakes him for her father. After with a life-threatening attack on him by a gang of goons, he decides to get to the bottom of things. He discovers that the girl’s father was actually a random doppelganger, a lookalike police officer who is eventually killed before the crook’s eyes by the rustic gang.

Shiva assumes the garb of the dead policeman, transforms into a violent rabble-rouser and goes all out to avenge the murder.

The film’s romantic track is mere window-dressing – it offers the director a pretext to stage a couple of song and dance set pieces that only serve to slow down the film’s pace.

You know what is coming next – the hero’s beloved and the dead cop’s daughter are abducted by the villains and the policeman who is masquerading as one takes the law into his own hands and sends the bad guys scurrying for cover.

The thing about a film like Rowdy Rathore is that it lets the viewer stay a step ahead of the action, which is a perfect recipe for an instant connect with the masses.

Riddled with an array of loud, lame and specious contrivances, Rowdy Rathore plays out pretty much like a comic-book fantasy rendered in the form of a live-action film. Go for it if you must, but don’t expect the earth from it.


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Sharmila-Sweet
post Jun 7 2012, 02:30 PM
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Review: Shanghai is powerful cinema
Published: Thursday, Jun 7, 2012, 9:30 IST | Updated: Thursday, Jun 7, 2012, 12:36 IST
By Aniruddha Guha | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA


Emraan Hashmi as Jogi in Shanghai
Film: Shanghai
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Cast: Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin, Emraan Hashmi, Prasenjit Chatterjee and Farooque Shaikh
Rating: **** ½

Where does a filmmaker like Dibakar Banerjee go from here? His debut film, the delectable Khosla Ka Ghosla, drew us into the story of a middle-class family fighting to save their land. His second was the sparkling-with-smart-lines and engaging indie, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, also among the first films to signal the arrival of the change gripping Bollywood. His third, LSD, was a bold, experimental story of love, sex and betrayal, narrated episodically.

Thankfully, Banerjee seems to be aiming higher with each subsequent film. Shanghai, Banerjee’s fourth film, is his best. It’s also a very important film, in addition to being consistently engaging and extremely satiating. Why just make a good film, when you have the wherewithal to make a powerful one? A film that can change perception; one that can make a statement, and push the envelope.

Shanghai does all of that, and does it well. Banerjee brings together great plot (inspired by Greek writer Vassilis Vassilikos' political novel, Z) some very good actors and a bunch of able technicians in a movie that clocks just a little under two hours, but occupies your mind for many after. It has a story few filmmakers in this country would dare to tell – it’s one thing to show politicians as single note, corrupt antagonists (as we have been seeing for years now), and quite another to explore the red-tapism and inner workings of the government machinery, and how it affects the lives of many (as in Shanghai).

On the face of it, the plot is simple – a social worker, Dr Ahemadi (Chatterjee), fighting for the resettlement of the hapless residents of Bharat Nagar, is bumped off. The involvement of the political-builder-police nexus is apparent. Stuck between them is Dr Ahemadi’s student, supporter and lover, Shalini (Koechlin), looking for justice among the mayhem; TA Krishnan (Deol), the guy in charge of the enquiry commission set up to investigate the death; and a small-time video filmmaker, Joginder Parmar aka Jogi (Hashmi), who gets dragged in unwillingly.

The pace is breakneck. Banerjee and co-writer Urmi Juvekar pen a tight screenplay, one that gives you little room to breathe, the story moving swiftly. Shanghai is not the kind of film where one-liners come thick and fast, yet dialogues have gravity. The narrative is propelled by Namrata Rao’s deft editing (with Ishqiya, Band Baaja Baaraat, Kahaani, and now Shanghai, she’s emerging as one of our best), and Mikey McCleary’s background score. The sound of dhols to denote cacophony even as life seems brittle elsewhere is a neat trick.

Shanghai wouldn’t have been what it is without its actors. Sadly, we are yet to constitute an award for Best Casting Director (most films don’t even have one), or Atul Mongia would stake his claim. The film boasts of actors who shine in smaller roles, among them Pitobash, Anant Jogue, Tillotama Shome and Supriya Pathak.

Chatterjee’s casting as Dr Ahemadi is a masterstroke, his character probably the film’s most important, even if short in duration. My favourite performance of the film, though, comes from the ever-dependable Farooque Shaikh, who’s a delight to watch onscreen. Another actor in the same role would have been forgotten soon after the film ends, but Shaikh nestles himself in your memory with a knockout act.

Okay, so Shanghai is “kissy actor” (in the words of Banerjee) Emraan Hashmi’s big shot at winning over that audience which doesn’t think much of his bad-guy-who-makes-out-with-the-pretty-girls roles. As Jogi Parmar, Hashmi is stripped of all charm, the stained teeth and paunch making him a lot less appealing. Yet, make-up and physical transformation isn’t always directly proportionate with great acting. Hashmi, thankfully, goes beyond the exterior aspects of his character, and shines as the vulnerable Jogi. The transformation is indeed commendable, and Shanghai could do for Hashmi what Omkara did for Saif Ali Khan.

Abhay Deol, in comparison, has a comparatively one-note role, but he makes a mark in spite of a suspect Tamil accent. In the final moments of the film, especially, Deol packs a punch. Kalki Koechlin is the film’s weakest link, her physical appearance probably the only factor that seems to have worked in her favour (as it has in past films). How long, though, will she continue playing the agonised expat/NRI with doped-out eyes and weird accent?

To sum, Dibakar Banerjee’s Shanghai walks the thin line between mainstream and meaningful cinema, and does so beautifully. The rare, well-deserving Rs100cr film? Who cares? There’s more to cinema than box office records and opening weekend numbers; Shanghai is the perfect example. Watch.




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Sharmila-Sweet
post May 2 2013, 11:36 AM
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Aashiqui 2
U; Romance
Dir: Mohit Suri
Cast: Aditya Roy Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor


2013 is touted to be the year of sequels in Bollywood with more than a dozen franchise-based films hitting the marquee. Well, after watching Aashiqui 2, the definition of sequel needs to be visited once again. This particular romance-drama might come across as a sequel to the 1990 hit Aashiqui but it’s not. What the film does though is it religiously follows the Bhatt model — in which winsome music plays a huge role — with dull moments.


Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor in a still from the film.

In a nutshell, the whole story is about fame, failures and feelings. In hindsight, it’s also about a woman who wants to reform her alcoholic mentor-boyfriend with love. And fails miserably. But that’s also where the charm lies. Sending him to a rehab would have done the trick but then, it wouldn’t have added to the melancholy. Also, it’s advisable to ignore common sense in a film attempting to measure the equations of a showbiz couple, right? Wrong. Abhimaan (1973) did a comparatively better job in this regard. What Aashiqui 2 does is negate the jealousy factor and microscope more on trust between the protagonists.

Aashiqui 2 begins with this has-been rockstar who is busy destroying himself with alcohol but his life changes one night when he runs into — quite literally — this beautiful girl who also happens to be a gifted singer. From that point onwards, he tries to nullify his excesses by wholeheartedly supporting her career. That is before he comes to terms with his own realities.

Director Mohit Suri chooses to follow the set template. There are barely any remarkable sequences. As the result, the movie relies heavily on the actors. Performance-wise, the first half scores an own goal whereas the second half is a revelation. Shraddha Kapoor’s portrayal of a conscientious lover is noteworthy as she showcases the emotional flair without going overboard. Overall, Aditya Roy Kapoor is promising but he struggles; especially during the scenes where he has to present a wasted artiste. Ranbir Kapoor effortlessly aced those very moments in Rockstar (2011).

The editor could have kept this film shorter without losing on the essence. Ironically, the loveliest scene happens in the end but you’ll have to go through a lot of tears and few smiles to reach that point.

**

Don't let someone become a priority in your life,
when you are just an option in their life
.
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