2008 - Movies to watch out for

Jodha Akbar

This was going to be the first major release of 2008 but it has been shifted to Feb and Sunday is going to be the replacement on 25th jan. Well we dont care till we get to see it. From the promos it promises to be another epic from Ashutosh Gowarikar. Both Hrithik and Ash are looking cool in their historic avatars of Akbar and Jodha. Icing on the cake is Music from A.R.Rehman. Cant wait to listen to background music. It should be breath taking as it is from Rehman. All in all, sounds like a great start to 2k8. Lets keeps our fingers crossed!!!

Halla Bol

This was supposed to come in last week of Dec. But has shifted to second week of Jan. Santoshi and Devgan always delivers something good. And nothing good has come from both of them for a long time now. So lets hope this one is as hard hitting as it promises to be.

Tashan

Akshay back to the Action Movie. Wow. With Saif. Wow. And Anil Kapoor too. Ufffff. Dont forget Kareena. This promises to be a big blockbuster provided Vijay Krishna Acharya does not screw up the movie. 2007 was not a good year for Yashraj and this is their first release in 2008. I sincerly hope they deliver something different this time. I am also praying this should not be a rip off from some hollywood picture. But what the hell. Ain't Akki and Saif looking Kool in their new gateups. I would say Super KKOOOOL. So lets hope for the best.

Race

Another Action/Thriller from Abbas Mustan. Starring Saif, Akshay Khanna, Anil Kapoor this one looks all masala fare. My prediction says it will be a hit if it is an average movie. But again lets pray its not a copy of some angrezi movie.

Drona

Abhishek in long hair without his hair band. Thank God!!! What I have heard is this movie deals with Super hero and super power stuff. Nothing out on Story yet. Lets see what Abhishek does in this one.

Sarkar Raj

Ramu back in action after his Sholay. AB Sr. and Jr. together with their latest member Ash. I sincerly hope Ramu gets his golden touch back with this sequel to the hit movie Sarkar. He was thrashed too hard for his take on Sholay. I hope all the bubble settles down when this one comes out

My Name is Khan

Karan Johar + Sharukh the King Khan + Kajol. Do I need to mention anything else. Just go and book your tickets.

Hera Pheri 4

Now who doesnt want to see Babubhaiyya, Raju and Shyaam back in Action. But wait where is Herapheri 3!!!

Taare Zameen Par

I was one week late in watching this movie. By then everyone was done watching the movie and each and every one had told me this was the best movie of their life time. So I went to see the film with high expectations and it all started on a really wonderful note. There he was. The Boy wonder. The Best Child actor I have seen in a long long time. The moment Darsheel Safary came on the screen I forgot everything else. He was not speaking much. Eyes were doing all the talking. Happy, Sad, Scared, Frustrated, Anger - All through eyes of this 9 yr old. And not everyday some one makes movie on this subject - A child not able to cope with the competition around him and parents as always not helping much. First half was real nice but no Aamir so far. He came at the right moment in the movie but sadly his entrance did not help the movie. It actually started making the movie more commercial and preachy. Suddenly everyone was bad. Teachers, Parents, Other Kids and Only Aamir was the savior. Also the end was quite abrupt. Read the rediff review, Raja Sen explains it well.



Still this was a good effort from a first time director making a movie about Children and trying to do something different. Also full marks to Aamir the Director for extracting such a fantastic performance from the kid Darsheel. For this alone he should win the award for the Best Director. Shankar Ehsaan Loy did it again giving us a very soulful music.



All in all a nice movie to end this year. We hope Aamir directs something soon.

Movies I Enjoyed in 2007

Finally I have something to write. Year will end in a short while and its time to look back upon the films I enjoyed the most, not in any specific order.

1. Guru

Positives - Terrific performances from AB Jr. and Mithunda. Good Music. Nice story. Awesome last 20 mins with AB in full form

Could be better? - Yes. If made more hard hitting, less commercial, less songs

Bottom Line - We Loved AB Jr. He showed glimses of his dad. Not Kidding

2. Chak De India

Positives - Tight Script, Crisp Direction, Terrific back ground music, SRK playing a character and not himself, Bindiya Nayak

Could be better? - I dont think so

Bottom Line - Chak de became the national anthem and will probably fetch an honest award for SRK

3. Jab We Met

Positives - Director Imtiaz Ali extracting fine performances from the lead pair, Awesome Songs, Good dialogues and Screenplay

Could be better? - Second half could have been better

Bottom Line - Sleeper hit of the year on its way to be a BlockBuster

4. Taare Zameen Pe

Positives - Fine story idea, Darsheel Safary, Good Soundtrack

Could be better? - Should have been more hard hitting, less commercial and less preachy. Should not have shown everyone as negative other than Aamir.

Bottom Line - Darsheel Safary should win the Best Actor trophy

5. Johnny Gaddar

Positives - Amazing performaces by the whole cast, Awesome Script and Direction, Cinematography and Background music

Could be better? - No Way

Bottom Line - One of the Best Thrillers to be churned out from Bollywood after a long time.

6. Bhool Bhulaiya

Positives - Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Song Hare Ram

Could be better? - Akshay should have been introduced in the first 5 mins of the movie.

Bottom Line - We Love Akki

7. Cheeni Kum

Positives - Amitji and a mind blowing Tabu

Could be better? - Second half could have been better.

Bottom Line - We absolutely Loved Tabu. She is the Best Actress of her generation

8. Aaja Nachle

Positives - MADHURI aka Mads

Could be better? - Script could have been better

Bottom Line - Even at 40 none of the new gals can match Mads

9. Bheja Fry

Positives - Novel story, Vinay Pathak

Could be better? - Screenplay could have been funnier.

Bottom Line - Vinay Pathak was discovered as a new Sensation.

10. Black Friday

Positives - Good Performances and Direction. Was really Hard hitting

Could be better? - Naah we liked it the way it was

Bottom Line - Anurag Kashyap can make some really hard hitting movie.

11. Risk

Positives - Randeep Hooda and Vinod Khanna. Direction

Could be better? - Remove Tanushree

Bottom Line - Good Movie

12. MP3 - Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar

Positives - Nice performances from the lead pair, Makes you nostalgic about your school days

Could be better? - Songs could have been better and it should have been promoted in a better way

Bottom Line - Trust me and Rent the dvd. You wont be disappointed

13. Om Shanti Om

Positives - SRK, Music, Nice Spoofs, An Entertainer

Could be better? - Second half could have been better

Bottom Line - SRK was Awesome

All in all it was a good year for Bollywood with both Boxoffice and Critical Acclaim.

Johnny Gaddar

I had a feeling. That I am going to like this fillum. That was just looking at the promos and because of the director Sriram Raghavan(Ek Haseena Thi). But I did not expect it to be this goooooood. Simply Awesome. Right from the first minute till last. I didnt get any time to get bored or think any thing else. It is one of the very few Indian movies which is Intelligent and makes you think. And no songs!!!

I fell in love with the titles of the movie. Very original and paying tribute to old golden thriller classics. Screenplay - Very tight. Story, I wont say was original but the treatment and the performances were simply superb.

Dharam paji still shows us that he has not retired yet. He still has the venom. And he delivers a suave performance. Zakir Hussain(Shardul) is another guy to watch out for. An ever dependable Vinay Pathak as Prakash. Great Job Vinay. A hot and not-going-over-the-top Rimi Sen. She should avoid Dhooms and concentrate on this kind of performances. A pleasant surprise for me. Finally the debutante Neil Mukesh as Vikram. He wont give you the impression that this is his first movie. He is very comfortable in this role. And I think he has chosen a smart way of debut and not a routine love story. This guy can go far in the race if he chooses his movies smartly.

So who is Johnny then?? I wont say. Go and find out yourself.

It said before the film began that it is a tribute to the thriller maestros Vijay Anand and James Hadley Chase. Both would have been proud after watching Johnny G.

Chinmay's scale - ****1/2

An apology to Quentin

Dear Quentin,

I apologise. I am sorry that i brought a stupid thought in my mind. And i lived with that thought for almost 2 years now. That I thought the "inspired" Kaante is a better entertainer than the original Reservoir Dogs, makes me want to kick my self now. Why did I thought of such a stupid thing. What the hell i was thinking?

One excuse i can give is the dvd which i got 2 yrs back of Reservoir Dogs was not a good print. The dialogues were not at all clear. Now how can you watch a Quentin movie without understanding the dialogues. That is an absolute crime. And i am guilty of that. My new thought is that the "great" movie Kaante from the "genius copycat" Sanjay Gupta is not even a 1% of your absolute beauty Reservoir Dogs. Holy Christ!!!! What a movie. I just dont have enough words to describe how amazing the movie was. Ohh the Dialogues. The F Word coming in every line more than once. The cast. You can't get better. All are brilliant in their respective characters but the ones stood out for me were Michael Madsen(Mr. Blond), Harvey Keitel(Mr. White) and Steve Buscemi(Mr. Pink). Sanjay Dutt is no where, i guarren-damn-tee you no where near Michael. Shit the guy is good. And Cool. Wow!!! I wont compare Amitji with Harvey but both were a treat to watch in their roles. And dude Mahesh, sorry to say but your antics does not come any closer to the Great Buscemi.

Ahh and the music. The 70s music. Quentin's movies always has a score which you will remember even after the movie is over. The songs playing in back while the movie is going on. Cant describe how great they felt. Just another Wow.

Quentin, again I sincerely apologise for my grave mistake in considering the inspired Sanjay Gupta better than you. I hope you will forgive me some day.

Yours sincerely
A Fan

Khamosh Pani

WOW. What a movie!!! Some movies leave such an impression on you long after you are done watching them. This is definitely one of them. One of those movies where you will feel angry for what you are seeing in the movie and then suddenly realize that these things are happening from a long time in our society and still going on. And we can't do much but curse about them.

This movie deals with the story of a widow Kirron Kher, who is absolutely brilliant in this role. The story is set in a village Charkhi in 1979 Pakistan. How she has to deal with her tormented past and repruccusions of her relationship with her 17 year old son, again played brilliantly by Aamir Ali.

Ofcourse the movie is little slow in the begining but once the story starts developing you won't be able to take your eyes of it. This movie does not favour to one nation or any one religion. It tells you what happened in the past and what is happening now. It is beyond a nation or a religion. I would like to claim it as a Story of a Woman fighting with her past ghosts and troubles in present. Also it is One of the Best Political Movies I have seen.

First time director Sabiha Sumar, does such a wonderful job with the movie. All the awards which she has won were truely deserved.

If you like meaningful movies with subtle message, this one is for you.

Chinmay's scale - ****1/2

PS - Link to watch movie online:
http://joox.net/cat/142/id/1273117

Gulti Movies - Am Loving It

It Started with Bommarillu, My First Gult(telugu) movie. And I absolutely loved it. After that I have seen as many as 3 more and here is my verdict.



Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana - I know. I know. The name is really difficult to pronounce. You can use the short version Nv Nv. This was recommended by my friend as he knew that I am a fan of Siddharth. Nv Nv has Siddhartha and Trisha in lead. Now for the regular Bollywood lovers this movie will offer nothing New. In brief it is Maine Pyaar Kiya till interval and Pyaar Kiya to Darna Kya after that. Funny thing was some of the scenes from both these movies have "Inspired" some of those in it. But well, I am a Siddhartha fan. I enjoyed the movie. Its a feel good time pass movie where you will kill your 3 hrs and feel good after that. Siddhartha is Good. Trisha is Ok(Nowhere near to my fav Genelia). Guy who played Trisha's brother did a good job. Prakash Raj never disappoints me. All in all a decent pop corn movie.




Athadu - My friend claimed this as his All time fav movie. This inspired me to go for Athadu. First things first. Mahesh Babu ROCKS. He is simply awesome. He is one of those guys who makes an average movie very very enjoyable. His style of dialogue delivery is superb. Action fantastic. Looks Amazing. And I am running out of Adjectives here. The story again is not path breaking in originality. I have seen atleast couple of movies with same story line. But still those didnt have Mahesh Babu. He plays an Assassin here, who gets framed for murder of a minister. He has to run and in the process lands up as a guy, who gets killed because of him. Familiar huh. Here Trisha does a better job than Nv Nv. Prakash Raj again is Excellent. Movie is excellent in Technical dept. Cinematography is really good. A perfect time pass movie with 100% Entertainment. Watch it and you will be added in the fan list of Mahesh Babu, the Prince. Did I say he ROCKS!!!




Pokiri - Two reasons to watch this movie. First is Mahesh Babu and second, this was the biggest hit of 2006 in Telugu movies. It is already remade in Tamil with Vijay in the lead and it was a hit. Its being remade now in Hindi with Salman in lead which I feel is a terrible casting mistake. Salman cannot do what is required in the movie. Perfect casting would have been Abhishek. Again nothing special about the story. But I just cant get enough of Mahesh Babu. This guy is Stylish. Leading lady Ileana is decent. Trust me when I say that after watching this one, you will become a bigger fan of Mahesh Babu. Guarren-Damn-Teed.

Recent Movies

Ok, Am writing after some time huh. Let's start with RGV ki Aag. I dont have much to say but just this. STAY AWAY. It will be counted as one of the crappiest movies of all time. Didn't expect this from RGV. A Bad Bad movie with bad bad acting and bad bad dialogues. Just go and watch the original classic version. It's much better use of time. I couldn't complete the movie. I didn't have the stamina for it. Even the Great Amitji could not save it as he was given some of the most childish dialogues ever. Hope RGV bounces back with Darling and Sarkar Raj.

Heyy Babyy - This could have been a reallyyy funny movie but the director got little confused whether he wants to make a family movie, a david dhawan movie or something which has adult jokes. The first half was boring and apart from the title song featuring 20 actresses, there is nothing in it. Second half is much better and more entertaining. Again Akshay steals the show. He is the Best in the movie. The surprise for me was Fardeen Khan. I dont rate him as a good actor but he did one decent job here especially playing Parimal Tripathi. Riteish, I felt, was wasted. Vidhya Balan was good. All in all timepass movie.

Dil Dosti etc - Promo

A movie produced by Prakash Jha!!! Movie is called Dil Dosti etc and has Shreyas "Iqbal" Talpade and a new comer Imad Shah in lead roles. Movie looks like little bit based on college politics and a bit on an eternal dilemma about love. I absolutely loved the promo and cant wait to get my hands on this one. Looks to be a real promise to us guys who like to watch a little hat ke movies. The dialogues seem to be really in your face kinda thing. Watch out for this one guys. Looks like a must watch!!!

Chak De India - The Return of the King

KING KHAN is Back with a Bang. Silencing all his critics who say that he cant act, he replies back with a superb performance as Kabir Khan in Chak De India.

Chak De has the basic plot line which is used by almost all of the movies of this genre. A Coach trying to prove something, a team of underdogs who dont know how to play as a team and finally their emergance as the World Champions. What's different here is the screenplay and treatment by the director Shimit Amin whose past record includes a mighty Ab Tak Chhappan.



Chak De worked for me because it was really entertaining. The girls in the team are picked with a lot of thought. There is a hotty from Chandigarh, Preeti Sabharwal. A Haryanvi Komal Chautala(my favourite) who also got the best lines in the movie. Team Captain Vidya Sharma who is also a housewife. Senior egoistic player Bindiya who has some frictions with the Coach. Mighty Balbinder Kaur from Punjab who is also short tempered. Girls from Jharkhand who says ho ho(one of the best scenes). Kudis from Northeast. Another hottie Aaliya who wears a nose ring like Sania. And all this makes the movie really interesting.

I dont follow hockey nor do I am much of a fan of the sport. But is shown very nicely in the movie. The cinematography is like the soul of the movie. Background music is nice.



Finally it is King Khan who makes all the difference. And we come to know here why he is the KING. Just see him in the cool Raybans and you will come to know. He has not overacted anywhere in the movie and indeed provides a very natural performance. Love you SRK. You ROCK man!!!

Chinmay's scale - ***1/2

Eternal Movies - Ghayal

I thought of starting this new segment called Eternal Movies wherein I can write about those movies that I have seen I-dont-know-how-many-times but which i can see again and again. Yesterday I cought up with Ghayal for the umpteenth time. I remember the whole movie frame by frame, dialogue by dialogue but still no harm in seeing once more huh.

Ghayal gave Sunny Deol his first National Award. It gave us one of my all time favourite director Rajkumar Santoshi. Gave us a villain we can never forget - Balwant Rai. And i can never ever forget the background music of the movie. I am not aware if it is an original creation of Bappida or "Inspired" from some where. I dont care as it gives me the adrenaline rush everytime it is played.

Now if you think about it, Ghayal has a story which is done to death not only in Bollywood but everywhere in the world. A normal guy taking revenge on the bad guy because he killed his brother/sister/wife/bhabhi/father/mother etc etc. Then what makes Ghayal an eternal movie. What makes it different from the countless movies with the same story before it and after it. My take is it is the treatment of the movie by Raj Santoshi and a sparkling and awe-inspiring performance from Sunny paaji. Sunny debuted with a romantic movie Betaab(tell me about it) but his skills were recognized in Arjun and established because of Ghayal. Many directors tried repeating the success of Ghayal by roping in Sunny in a movie with the same kind of story line but never succeeded. What makes Ghayal different from all these movies then.

First there was a kind of void created in the filmi world for an action hero after the senior guys Dharamji and Amitji started getting old. Agreed that Amitji was the first angry young man of indian cinema but Sunny was an Angry+++ guy. Second the dialogues of the movie and the way they were delivered by Sunny are etched in our memories even today. Not many actors can try shouting their dialogues and get away without hamming. Sunny did that every time. Balwant Rai ke kutte is still famous among the junta. It showed us Sunny ka gussa which no movie had explored before.

All in all Ghayal will always remain an eternal movie for many years to come. Atleast to me!!!

Some of the movies I saw recently

Thanks to my good friend Desitorrents, I am never in the scarcity of movies, old or new.


One of the movies I got hold of was Rajnigandha, having Amol Palekar and Vidya Sinha in the lead and directed by Basu Chatterjee. You keep wondering that, this movie was so ahead of its time. Its a sweet story about 3 characters. Amol and Vidya are currently in a relationship which is going to end in a marriage. Now Amol bhai, appropriately is shown little gareeb. He never comes on time. Comes always in bus or auto. Talks always about his promotion. But still there is something in him that Vidya is attracted to. Even she has difficulty comprehending what that thing is. Then there is a third character, Dinesh Thakur aka hubby of baa, who is the ex-boyfriend of Vidya, whom she meets in Mumbai 5 years after their breakup. And she is impressed with what she sees. She still thinks him as her pehla sachcha pyaar and wishes secretly in her mind that he still loves her and will propose to her. This is shown in a very subtle manner. I am not going to tell who gets the girl. Go and see the movie for that. For the fans of Amol and Basuda, this one is strongly recommended.



Then there was Chain Kulli ki Main Kulli starring Rahul Bose and Zain Khan(kid in the movie) Now this is no Lagaan or Iqbal but still is a very sweet movie about a kid making it big in the Indian Cricket team, who scores only 4s and 6s and never takes singles. LOL. A timepass flick which you can definitely see if you have some free time on your hand(Like Me!!!) Watch out for that short kid with the hiccups. He is cho chweet.



And finally, saw The Bourne Ultimatum. I dont have words to describe how much I liked the movie and according to me this one is One of the Best Action thrillers of all time. Already saw twice and ready for the third time if someone is interested.

Movie Review - Bommarillu

First of all I would like to thank my friend Anupam to suggest this movie to me. Thanks a ton dude. This is my first telugu movie and I was completely bowled over by it. Usually I was little sceptical with the regional language movies, tamil and telugu, thinking they wont be having much substance to them. But after seeing movies for both the languages, I have been proven wrong.

Bommarillu is a usual desi rom com movie, where guy meets the girl, family has some problems, they try something to resolve that problem and then there is happily ever after. Then what's different here. Difference is made by the performances of the lead pair. Siddhartha is improving with every movie he is doing. And nothing can stop me from saying this that this girl Genelia has the capacity to become Next Kajol. She is superb, amazing, sweet and i am running out of adjectives now. She truely deserves an award for this performance, which I believe she has already won. She is the soul of the movie. After you are done watching it one thing etched in your memory is name Hasini and her antics. One other thing which I noticed was the voice used for Genelia. Now I dont know whether it was she who dubbed her own dialogues or it was someone else. But whoever it may be, it was one of the sweetest voices I have heard in the movies in a long long time. She is coming in a hindi movie now and I just cant wait to see that one.

All in all its a feel good movie, in which after completing the movie you will surely have a nice smile on your face. So go for it.

Chinmay's scale - ***1/2

Boys - Movie Review

First things first. None of the tamil girls I know like this movie. And all the tamil guys I know love this movie.

Boys start with the introduction of the 5 boys of the movie. And their common goal. Girls!!! And all of them are having some weird tarika of ladki patao. We have Munna(Siddharth), Babu Kalyan aka Bob Galy, Kumar, JuJu and Krishna. Movie begins with their adventures, some very weird of trying to be cool and getting a GF(they even sing abt it). Then enters Harini(Genelia), becomes friends with them, making Munna to fall in love with her. And Munna does the most outrageous thing I have ever seen in Indian films. See it to believe it. Then there are parents. Who as normal filmi maa baap, try to seperate the pair. Also in my 2 years in Chennai, how come I didnt see the girls shown in this movie. May be I lived in the wrong area. Ok back to the movie. What follows is the most unpredictable, fast paced screenplay I have ever seen. I bet you will never be able to second guess the movie. You wont know what will hit you. Ok. Story Sounds like that of a normal Desi movie. Then what the hell is so different about this one. Yes Boss It's Different.

The Music of the movie really really reallyyyyyyyy ROCKS. Hail A.R.Rehman for these wonderful songs. You wont need to understand tamil to like the songs. Almost all the songs are awesome though my favourite is the final song"Secret of Success". Music is the major factor that will make you like this movie.

Now we come to the captain of the sheep, Shankar. No one will deny that he has immense talent hidden in him. Well he made the biggest blockbuster of 2007 with Thalaivar didnt he. The story, I wont say is Amazing. But it has lot of twists and turns. Unpredictable I would say. That goes for Screenplay too. You can't imagine in your wildest dreams, what is going to come next. Also the climax is very smart. Movie, sometimes becomes silly but that's fine. Chalta hai.

In the acting department my fav was Genelia. She is cho chweet. So charming. So innocent. Look out for the scene where Munna goes to talk to her for the first time. See how she changes her expressions. Simply Mindblowing. Out of the 5 boys, Siddharth stands out. He has the meaty role. And we all know what he is capable of. Special Mention to Mangalam Sir(Vivek). He is one of those actors who makes me laugh just with his sheer presence. I dont have to understand a damn word he is saying. I wish he does some hindi movies. He is simply awesome in the movie.


Another fav character of mine in the movie is the Priest who sends Kumar to bring food from different temples. Really funny character. Information is Wealth ain't it.

This movie made me little nostalgic by showing Spencer plaza, Sathyam theater, Besant nagar beach, party with friends, ufffffff....Those golden days!!!

All in all I guess everyone should like the movie. Atleast the Music. Did I say Rehman sir Rocks....


Chinmay' scale - ***1/2

15 Park Avenue - Movie Review

The combo of Aparna Sen and Konkona Sen creates Magic on the celluloid. Noone will deny that. Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is the best example. The mother and daughter duo is back with another(I won't call it an Art movie because there is no such thing as art cinema and regular cinema. There is just Good Cinema and Bad Cinema) special kind of movie. This time the ensemble cast has some great names like Shabana Azmi, Waheeda Rehman, Rahul Bose and Dhritiman Chaterjee.

Movie is about a Schezofrenic girl called Meethi, played by Konkona "Awesome" Sen. Movie is all about her relation with her sister Shabana, her impact on the lives of other "normal" people. Again this is not a movie for people who can't sit through a slow movie and here you will have to think from your end too.

This movie made me think a lot. There is lot of hidden philosophy in it. After watching it I had to go to IMDB and see what other people thought of it. And boy, everyone has their own theory.

Aparna Sen keeps it very surreal. As said by doctor in the movie "What we think is a delusion for others, may be a reality for them. The ending of the movie will create more questions in your mind.

Performance wise Konkona scores highest. She is one of the all time best actresses for Indian films. I just cant get enough of her. I wish to see more and more of her talent. Shabana also lives upto her name. Rahul is fine. Waheedaji has a smaller role and I am biased towards her. I can't be critical of her. Dhritiman Chaterjee as the doctor is very natural. Kanwaljit is also good.

Aparna Sen makes me proud. I can say she is from my country. And she makes such movies. She is one of the most talented director I have ever seen. I wish she keeps making more movies.

Chinmay's scale - ****

Partner - Movie Review

Chi Chi is BACK!!! After a long long, really long time Govinda is back with his amazing Comic Timing and awesome dance moves. After I saw the movie I was thinking what took Govinda so long to return to his familiar territory. Total time pass, masala flick where you dont have to trouble your brain cells. Just go and enjoy. I feel he was not getting the right films when he changed his profession from films to politics. And even when he made a comeback with Bhagambhag, he wasn't given the right script and the right role. He was decent in Salaam e Ishq but Partner is a kind of movie which is his turf. These movies made him Comedy King. And Chi Chi why do you have to try serious and emotional acting when we love you the way you are. He is termed as the hero of the Classes. I dont Agree. He has one of the best comic timings in the business and even at this age and weight, he rocks you with his dance moves. He even dances on Sarkai lo khatiya which is my favourite scene in the movie.

Partner, our own version of Hitch, gives Govinda what he needed the most at this time. A movie which gives him lot of scope to do comedy, dance and work with David again. When you are going to a David Dhavan movie, you dont pay much attention to the story line. Because there is none. There is no logic. Some people hate that kind of stuff. But in these times of stress and tensions if something makes me laugh for two and half hours and makes me forget my worries then there is nothing better than that.

Ohh Partner also has Salman. But half of the time he hams. He is fine in the song and dance stuff. But he cant do comedy as naturally as our chi chi.

Parter is a Govinda movie all the way. He is great in almost every frame he is in. And his dance moves!!! Ohh Boy....My dream dance sequence now has Hrithik and Govinda dancing in a song.

The music is Good. The numbers are foot tapping. My favourite song is Soni de nakhre as we see Govinda in full form in that song. The title song and Dupatta are next. Rest of the songs are also not bad.

Ohh yeah there is a Chhota don in the movie. Rajpal Yadav. I felt he was kinda wasted. There was much more scope in his role. And the kid in the movie was irritating.

Lara and Katrina are for eyecandy. That's it.

If you have like Govinda's movies such as Shola aur Shabnam, Aankhen, Coolie no. 1, Haseena maan jaegi, etc. then Dont Miss This One.

Chinmay's scale - ***

Awarapan Movie Review

I guess there are not many Emraan Hashmi fans in my group(sure there is a look alike!!!) but this is one of the movies where Emraan gets a chance to show his caliber as an actor. Awarapan is an example of how amazing performances can make a movie from mediocre to watchable. Hell there is nothing new in the story. Its just a 2007 version of Sadak. But again did I mention the performances are terrific.

Lets start with our lead Emraan bhai. Till now he has shown some prospects of being a good actor in Kalyug. Rest have not been that good. But here he gets to do something, for which he is not known for. A lonely gangster for his maalik. He really gets into the skin of the character and portrays a wide range of emotions. In the first few minutes he does not have much to say but his eyes do all the talking. This is his best performance till date and yes award worthy. He shows that he can do much more than all the lip locking in the world.

Next is the newcomer Mrinalini Sharma. She does a fine job. I didnt feel like this was her first movie. The only thing which can come in her way is that her looks are little unconventional. But hey thats where Tabu proved everyone wrong didnt she. So she definitely has good chance of making her mark here.

One question which I had always in my mind was Did Ashutosh Rana retire?? Why in the hell he was not doing more movies. He is simply amazing in the negative role here.I hope he does acting more frequently now. We want to see him more. Definitely more.

Shreya does not get much scope here. But whatever short amount of time she is on screen, she is not bad.

A special mention for Purab Kohli as Don ka beta. Man I cant believe he can act like this too. Watch out for him in the movie.

Director Mohit Suri made an upward progress with Wo Lamhe but with this one I cant say the same. Story and Screenplay are strictly ok and at many points you will think like what the hell is happening here. Why dont they kill Hashmi with a bullet. Why playing with him. Just finish the job man.

The Music is the Life of the movie. All the songs are very very good, specially on screen. One more thing which makes this movie watchable.

I wont advice to see this movie on the big screen but get it on dvd. Atleast for the performances.

Chinmay's scale - **1/2

Movie Review - Apne(aka Rocky 7)

Ok. So here we go. My second movie review. Saw there are no comments for the first one. Looks like no one is reading my reviews huh. Anyways lets talk about Apne or as I call it Rocky 7. Now why Rocky 7. Because it is our own desi version of Rocky which had Sly Stallone in the title role. Aur to aur here there are 3 Rockies. Yes 3. Dharam paji, Sunny paji and Bobby. Wow a perfect star cast assembled huh. Who else can play Rocky other than our 3 Punjab de Puttars. Ok jokes apart lets talk about the movie now shall we.

After jingoistic movies like Gadar and The Hero, Anil Sharma tries something different here. He makes an emotional saga about a father and two sons, with some action sprinkled as the topping. I dont want to go ahead and write the story here. I have given enough hints by calling this a Desi Rocky. I began the movie with lot of apprehensions, but to my surprise I started liking it. And the main reason for that was Dharam paji. He is in almost every frame of the movie. And boy does he deliver. He has shown to us once again that though we have given him the tag of He-man, he is at his best when he is playing with emotions. He showed us this in Chupke Chupke and Satyakam. I was little shocked seeing him perform this well, as he is not that young now. But he has not changed. He is in full form here, at his best. No kutte kamine dog blood sucking dialogues. But Drama. Nice emotional drama. Pain of a sportsman who has a shame under his belt. Pain of a father who wanted to make his son, the Best in the sports he loves the most. Pain of a human being, whose feelings are not understood by people around him. He is simply Awesome. If movie didnt had other two deols then also this would have been a nice film. Because of Dharam paji. But we got a better deal didnt we. We got two more deols with him.

Sunny Deol. Now what shall I write about this guy. I have always felt that this guy has not done justice to his talent by doing movies like Fool n Final and Big Brother. He is much much better actor than what we saw in these kind of faaltu movies. We still remember his Arjun, Ghayal, Ghatak, Damini, Gadar, Border. Whew!!
Then why in the hell he does these faltu movies. Ok I hope he understands this before he runs out of gas and we also hope that he soon starts working Again with Rajkumar Santoshi.

Apne gives Sunny a nice platform to display his range. In the most part of the movie he has under played himself. No shouting. No dhishum dhishum. An emotional son who wants love from his father. He shows us what he is capable of especially in the scene with Dharmendra on the roof, where his father says very harsh words to him. But I was missing the Sunny I knew. The gusse wala Sunny. I thought that the director screwed up showing him soft in the whole movie. Ohh wait but I was wrong. The director is a Genius. He saved this for the last 45 mins of the movie where Sunny gets into his familiar territory of Shouting and mukka laat. And boy he delivers. The last 45 mins are memorable because of him and him only. So nice to see sunny paji in good role after a very very long time.

I am not going to talk much about Bobby. I am not much fond of him or his acting. Here, he does a decent job(may be because he has very less dialogues). But he has his dad and big bro to support him. So we will not be too harsh on him. He really did an OK job. Not Bad.

Now the ladies. Both Shilpa and Katrina dont have much to do here. The real leading lady here is Kirron Kher, playing Dharmendra's wife. She does a fine job with her punjabi accent(already did that in Rang de Basanti) and shows a nice chemistry with Dharam paji.

Now lets talk about what was missing. First of all the music. Himesh's music is strictly OK and the title song coming after every 10 mins irritates sometimes. I also thought there was some space for humour. There were no light moments in the film. It could have only helped the film.

The boxing scenes are decent but in no way comparable with Rocky or Millian Dollar Baby. They could have done little better there.

Overall I think Apne is a decent attempt by Anil Sharma, bringing together 3 Deols first time in a movie. I enjoyed the movie for the most of the parts.So people just watch it for Dharmendra.

Chinmay's scale - **1/2

MP3 - Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar Review

No guys, I am not going to talk about my Pehla Pyaar. It was so long back that I don't even remember the girl's name. Well, not true completely but what the hell. Now lets talk about the movie.

I had read on Rediff that this movie was very nice and sweet so i thought about giving it a try. It's about a boy and a girl who are in a high school(yes high school, 12th and 11th to be precise). They meet, fall in love, have a fight, little drama, little filmy masala and nice bollywoodish climax. So what the hell is NEW here??

Let me tell you this. The movie actually surpassed my expectations. I didn't expect it to be such a sweet and funny movie. Actually I kind of felt nostalgic as my mind went back into the time to my high school days at St. Xaviers, and sorry to say this but it made me senti.

Ok Coming back to the movie. How is it different from the rest of the boy meets girl sagas. First of all the two lead actors are completely New. Very Fresh. Looked like they are still in high school. But they played their characters so naturally and with such an efficiancy that I have to say to them just this. Kudos guys. I hope they give the Best Debut Actor, both male and female, to this two. But I am afraid its already decided who is going to get the Best Debut as a Male. Surroooor anyone??

Back to the movie. The story is not that Original but the treatment definitely is. The screenplay and the direction have been done with some nice thinking. This is Robby Grewal's second movie after Samay, and boy has he improved. I hope he makes another one very soon. I will keep an eye on that.

Now the actors. The male lead played by Ruslaan Mumtaz(weird name huh), son of bollywood heroes ki maa Anjana Mumtaz, is a boy to watch out for. His comic timing is awesome and he has all the qualities of a chocolate boy(sorry aamir you are little old now for this title ). He has played his part very very naturally. And the guy can go far if he gets right roles.

The female lead Hazel, looks very cute and sweet. She has to improve her Hindi but its fine in the movie as she is shown to come from UK((milk and cookies anyone).

Both of them look very comfortable with each other and chemistry between them is very nice.

You have to mention the supporting actors. They have done a fine job. Ruslaan's mom and dad(played by Kanwaljit Singh), Hazel's mom, aunt, uncle and the good friend she makes in Paris. And finally the 3 members in guy's gang. All have done their part very sincerely.

One area where the movie could have been better was Music. There are not many songs in the movie, i think 2-3, but with this kind of film with no big names, a great music would have attracted the audiences to the theater.

I was little disappointed after watching the movie because it could have done better commercially by a word of mouth. Looking at the crappiest movies getting all the attention(Surooooor again), I really felt that this one deserved much better.

And guys, I guaren-damn-tee you that you will definitely remember your school days and that special girl in your Class whom you liked. Neeraj, Please dont tell anyone about it. OK??

Chinmay's Scale - ***