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Reviews
Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)
Boom Boom.. Dhishoom dhishoom....
Here it comes ..get set go . Boom boom boom kaboooom !! Welcome to other side of India, so rustic was the ambiance created that you wonder if it is the same India you belong to. I am going to take some time to absorb the stress. To be frank, I desperately need Yash Chopra's goody goody movie dose to clear my hangover.
As with old Hollywood era, one side there were Tom Hank's feel good movies and other side were Clint Estwood's unadulterated Taxan flick. In Bollywood, we are coming up with good number of nail biting northern rural dramas (Can anyone forget Omkara or Ishqiya.. !). I personally believe these are much much better than latest trend of copying of southern OVER POWERED HERO's movies (does anyone needs Name?).
When top notch direction meets with crunchy script a full blown entertainment is sure to be due. And Manoj Vajpai ..who?? (Yes yes yes fair enough.... I still remember Manoj Vajpai of Satya frame) is coming up at his own. There were others (still not able to get their names ), who were equally impressive. The only disappointment was editing, 20 minutes of cuts could have given GOW a Gem status. But yeah, may be that I can wish for part II. All in all, its treat to watch, if you like Spices more than Sugar ;-).
Delhi Belly (2011)
Rough n Tough
Its BOLD Bollywood. Gone are the days of double meaning David Dhavan's dialogs. There is only one meaning and that's always of other side of boundary. Its straight A movie with no gimmick to fool Censor board. That's kind of openness I always admire. Delhi Belly is roller coaster ride of one and half hours where you get exactly the kind of entertainment, what movie promises to deliver. It seems Abhinay Deo has very clear picture of targeted viewers and he didn't compromise a bit to deliver them. If the trend continues we can hope to see desi version of Pulp Fiction some day (is it still too much to wish for?).
Delhi Belly is Imran's best performance till date. Having Aamir as mamu is best thing happened to him, and he is also making sure not to squander this fact. He imbibed his character till throat. You just don't see a bollywood hero Imran Khan, its always Tashi with lots of s*** around him engross you. One good thing that stood out about movie is to making sure that each character has enough camera space. And to encouraging surprise, every one of them: Kunal, Vir, Vijay gave top notch performance. For sure, these guys are going to stay in bollywood for long time.
8/10.
Raavan (2010)
From Lallan to Beera.... making of an Actor.
Remember Amrish Puri of 80-90s, as soon as he enters in the scene you start having a nasty feeling of fear, hate and disgust. His cruelty goes within your skin and you abhor him like anything. That's the same terror and nasty sensation Abhishek was able to produce in Raavan. It was Yuva where I saw Abhishek's true potential first time and its Raavan where he shows where he belongs to. Even though Lallan was having kind of negative shades, and Raavan is Villain like hell, but hats off to Maniratnam to bring such a class act out of Abhishek. In entire movie you see and admire him just as an Abhishek, no more papa's boy and no more papa's copy. It was worth every penny to see him grown up as full blown actor. I was so engross with Abhishek's performance that Vikram and Ashwarya, totally justifying there presence were not able to get my attention.
Usually when you came out of watching Maniratnam's movie, you found your heart felt tense, your mind ponder heavily, your feet takes smaller steps and your face looks grimmer. While watching Raavan these emotion increases many fold. A totally different experience than how you feel watching Rajkumar Hirani's movie.
I think this movie belongs to different genre for different set of audience. It may not be a blockbuster, but this will not change anything about quality of movie. It is pleasant to see that Indian cinema is now a day adventures enough to produce offbeat roles and movies with quality acting and direction.
If wanting to relax is not the only criteria you watch movies for then I strongly recommend you this gem. 7.5/10.
Karthik Calling Karthik (2010)
Rare thriller from bollywood
As the strange name "Karthik calling Karthik" forces you to think about movie, ditto with the well maintained suspense. It forces you or better says engages you for 2.5 hrs that most other bollywood movies never accomplished even for few mins. It's nice to see lot of bollywood movies coming up with tight script and engaging direction. Even most traditional film director/actor is coming with as bold movie as "My name is Khan"!! . As bollywood is always blessed with powerful actors, but it's only since last few years we are seeing above par script and well crafted direction, and on top of that versatility of subject selection is like icing on cake. Let's hope this trend will continue.
As movie is suspense thriller, it's not worth to discuss story. At glance it look more like beauty and geek kind of material, but turns into more meaningful storyline that keeps you engaging till end. As for Deepika, she is still learning and did as expected to do but Farhan Akhatar is improving with every film. At first he started acting for fun, but now he seems more sincere about the same.
Nothing negative about this movie but, I still miss Farhan Akhatar as director. For me "Dil Chahta Hai" and "Lakshya" are much worthy then any of his film as actor. Hope he will not let his inside director vanish completely.
All in all KCK is one more movie from bollywood this year that is worth watching. 7.5/10
Shutter Island (2010)
Scorsese's signature
Shutter Island is a movie with Martin Scorsese signature all over it. How fantastic direction can made ordinary plot interesting is the highlight of movie? Nice camera movement, shadow photography, multiple flashbacks and capable cast selection made this one worth watching.
Even though plot of movie is not new, Scorsese was able to create engaging trill and suspense out of it. On top of that Lionardo once a cute Titanic boy again shows that he can deal with rustic role with same vigor and success. His eyes and facial expression reveals as much as the crisp dialogs do. He is one of the few actors who make acting looks so real.
Only if editor kept it shorter than what it is, will make watching movie more pleasant. All in all, Shutter Island did a nice job and after Avatar, it will be another treat from Hollywood to watch this year. 7.5/10
Ishqiya (2010)
Admire Omkara.. go for Ishqiya
In Omkara, Vishal Bhardwaj sets such a high standard for him self that Kamine even though good enough by typical bollywood standard disappointed many. But here comes Ishqiya, almost matches Omkara blow by blow. Directed by a débutant Abhishek Chaubey, Ishqiya is a story shown with a wonderful euphoria. And did I mention you that it has set appealing good standard for comedy too?
Crisp script with proper blend of suspense and humor and on top of that ultimate cast selection makes sure nothing goes wrong. Every actor is given role what he is best suited for and in what he regards as best in bollywood. No need to say about class performance of Naseeruddin shah, and can any one match Arshad Warsi in on the spot comedy? Vidhya Balan suits so much in the role that you forget that you are seeing an actress from glamor world of bollywood.
If you admire Omkara's genre, it is worth to watch Ishqiya. 8/10.
3 Idiots (2009)
wow
Splendid !! what a refreshing movie
!! Three cheers for Mr. Hirani. A marvelous comedy with life changing message. He shows us that both can be possible in a single movie. A movie like HeraPheri was a wonderful comedy while Swadesh was giving a real life preaching message but blending both genre of movie and come up with such a masterpiece is amazing. Fantastic screen play with crisp dialogs and ultimate cast selection made this as one of my all time best.
And what to say about Amir Khan? He surpasses my expectation level one more time. DCH, RDB, TZP and now this one!! He is such a refreshing feeling in movie that you can't come out of, ever after two days. This is the youngest he is looking in last fifteen years. If I was too surprised with young and charming Brad Pitt in Curious case of Benjamin Button, then Amir on top of that added mischievous of youth too. Look at his curious eyes, his ever swinging body, his quick repartees.. ooh boy he is incomparable.
Best part of movie is that, even with such a powerful casting, I was so much engrossed with Rancho, Farhan, Hari, Pia, Virus, Chatur that no one not even Amir was able to overshadow movie. Boman Irani, Madhavan, Sharman, Kareena all played their part superbly. This new guy Mr Chatur also did a great comedy performance and reason for lots of hilarious moment in movie.
All in all it was a complete entertainment package. I am giving only 9 out of 10 and saving last one; because I am sure Mr Hirani and Amir will surpass their own record soon.