Movie Review : Ajab Prem ki ghazab kahani

Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : Comedy / Romance
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 35 minutes
Director : Rajkumar Santoshi
Cast : Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Govind Namdeo, Upen Patel, Darshan Jariwalla, Smita Jaykar, Navneet Nishan
Kid rating : PG




AJAB PREM KI GAZAB KAHANI (APKGK) : LOW-BROW TIME-PASS !


“Ajab Prem ki ghazab kahani” turned out almost like I thought it would, although I had expected better. Majorly slapstick-y with a very, very loose story-line, is how I’d describe it. The regular rules on describing character development, depth don’t apply here because, and I’ll say it flat out, there is none. Character development that is. This film, while being physically situated in a hill-station like small town, appears to play out in fantasy land. Hence, to sit through this film, you are required to suspend your disbelief and knowledge of physics, gravity and all that tiresome logic.

The film, as the title proclaims, is about Prem Chopra (Ranbir Kapoor) who is a 9th standard fail, good-for-nothing wastrel (where have I seen that before ?). Prem is all about being President of a “Happy Club” – he does nothing else. The Happy Club and it’s members, who are all Prem’s equally good-for-nothing friends, have lofty goals in mind, but run around not amounting to much.

Prem who lives with and is supported by his parents, wants to “grow up” once he sights and falls in love with the beautiful Jennifer (Katrina). However Jenny is being forced by her foster parents to marry an odious chap, and she actually loves Rahul (Upen Patel). Prem, by virtue of being her friend, and very classically hero-like in being unable to tell her of his love, finds himself kidnapping her from her very own wedding so she can be with her true love. Things ofcourse do not go as planned, but does Prem get what he deserves ?

While the film makes it very clear that there is no realism in the story, and the viewer should expect no connections (remote or otherwise) to coherence, it is also not an out-an-out gag fest. There is an attempt to create a film full of buffoonery, tomfoolery and abject slapstick, but Santoshi cannot keep up the momentum. Thus while there are some scenes which are comedic, there were gaps in the film where I was plain bored. Add to that, the fact that this film pretty much conducts itself at a level suited for a teeny-bopper flick, and you get the picture.

Santoshi who has delivered meaningful films like “Damini” in the past, also managed to turn out half-decent “comedies” like “Andaz Apna Apna”. This time he tries to be fluffier than usual, if you get my drift, and as far as I’m concerned does not get it right. APKGK has a pretty light-weight script, and is unencumbered by traditional filmi elements such as a believable story or screenplay. Even given that, this film fails to leave a mark, chiefly because I care not a whit about the card-board-ish lead-pair, Prem and Jenny, both of whom share 2 common characteristics. Firstly they both stammer when upset, and the second (which the director may not have intended) that although full-grown adults, they appear to only possess child-size brains.

This film might descend into stupidity, but it’s stars are quite another matter. Luminous Katrina, and the youngish Ranbir, ooze beauty and charm in every frame. Even though they have no help from the script, they manage to salvage the film to make it an average entertainer. There are other factors which help, like the absolutely marvelous Govind Namdeo, who breathes life into his 10 minute role. Also Darshan Jariwala, playing Prem’s restaurant-owner father, and Smita Jaykar, playing his loving, indulgent mother lend their able support. The songs, which are quite melodious are picturised beautifully and with a sophistication not seen in the film itself.

The best thing about this film, if I had to name one, is that it did not have any double-meaning jokes, vulgarity, sexual innuendoes or the Johnny Lever style facial contortions that currently pass for humor. Although there were minor irritants like showing a woman’s sari being “unintentionally” unwrapped (only in Bollywood !) , this film was relatively kid-friendly, and I have to say that my kids enjoyed it a whole lot more than I did.

APKGK (long names anyone ?) is a slap-stick entertainer and will probably do quite well at the box-office. If you go in there expecting a low-brow, loud, in-your-face comedy sans logic you will get your money’s worth. However if your funny bone is not tickled by random people falling off staircases, or a bunch of half-wits running around for no apparent reason, please consider spending your hard-earned money elsewhere.

Movie Preview : Ajab prem ki ghazab kahani

Raj Kumar Santoshi has directed a bunch of films, “Andaz Apna Apna”, “Pukar” and “Damini” being the better known ones. His most recent film "Halla bol" didn't do too well. This time he attempts a romantic comedy with the flavor of the month, Ranbir Kapoor, and the actress who’s had a flurry of films lately – the comely Katrina Kaif.

Of course if the Official Website is anything to go by, this film might be a dud. There’s Kapoor doing a Saawariya, with a towel. He’s also in one of the stills, in what looks to be woman’s dress. And in the promos, he’s hamming it up. Not good signs, any of them. This film is a romance, so hopefully there’ll be more to it than him being the President of Happy Club.

There’s Prem (Ranbir) and Jennifer or Jenny (Katrina). Prem is quite "ajab" and this is his "ghazab" ki kahani - you do see the clever punning by Santoshi & Co., don't you ? OK then, so Prem falls in love with Jenny who’s already in love with someone else. He also inadvertently kidnaps her (not sure how that works) and she now loathes him, while he adores her, and thinks her vanilla ice-cream (hmm… this is starting to weird me out). Somewhere in there he also makes jalebis while wearing khaki shorts, so maybe he’s a halwai-in-training ?

The whole never-do-well, goofy guys cleaning up their act, after meeting the perfect woman thing is getting a tad clichéd. Didn’t Ranbir just play the same role in “Wake up Sid” ? Katrina's the peppy, young thing - yet again. But on the bright side, two of the songs in the film have been sung by Atif Aslam, in his gorgeously soulful voice, and they turn out beautifully, especially "Tera hone laga hoon"

This film is aimed at the younger crowd, and I’m going by the look of the promos and the Website, and their ‘apparent” desire to be so cool and hip, and narrate in comic form. And everytime they get “comic-y” (remember Hum Tum ?), it ends up looking juvenile and losing appeal. So I do hope that there’s more meat in the film, and they are not so fixated on working the “masala” in that they forget that there’s more to a film than that. Santoshi generally isn’t all fluff so that gives me hope, although which schmuck is behind the silly Website (and OMG, this doesn't bear thinking about, but will the movie be as silly as that?)

Movie Review : Baabarr

Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : Drama/Action
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Director : Ashu Trikha
Cast : Sohum Shah, Om Puri, Sushant Singh, Govind Namdeo, Tinu Anand, Mithun Chakraborty, Urvashi Sharma, Shakti Kapoor
Kid rating : PG13




BAABARR : OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLE !

Gangster movies first came to be noticed with Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Parinda (1989). Satya which came in 1998 was the 90s version of the gangster saga. Urmila Matondkar made a beautiful foil for Chakravarty’s earnest gangster, and the tight story and screenplay held me engrossed for those couple of hours. Then came Vaastav, Company, Sehar and a whole host of films which gave this genre some respectability.

And in 2009 we have Baabarr a gangster film which left me unmoved, and I must admit a little bored. Baabar depicts grass-roots growth of crime – how a boy surrounded by violence grows up to be a gangster. You’d think this would be an interesting story to tell and see, but the director, the script-writer and the weak screenplay manage to project the protagonist as an unsympathetic psycho with anger issues.

Baabarr is a little boy who is privy to his family’s fights with other local thugs. His brothers, the eldest of whom is played by Shakti Kapoor, retaliate by producing home-made guns and fighting bloodshed with bloodshed. Baabarr, then a 12 year old decides to assist his brothers by picking up a gun and killing a man. From then on, it’s a downward spiral, with Baabarr growing up to become a thuggish lout, known for his anger, and his obstinate and trigger-happy ways.

The government decides to reign in criminal activities in the area, by bringing in encounter specialist Dwivedi (Mithun Chakraborty). Dwivedi is assisted by his second-in-command Inspector (Om Puri), who has his own fish to fry, in the midst of all this. The rest of the film delineates altercations between the cop and the gangster, with an offbeat ending.

The leading man is newcomer Sohum Shah, although why he is in the lead is quite the question. Sohum cannot act and does not have the screen presence to carry off a persona such as Baabar’s. Besides those failings, the screenplay and story do not help much. The way Baabar’s introduction to crime has been depicted make you think the director’s taken the easy way out. Baabarr as a boy, is cold and emotionless, someone who might have been better of a in a shrink’s office, than fighting it out on the streets. And the “sympathy” factor which normally kicks in, in gangster movies comes from the fact that the hero can redeem himself in our eyes, by possessing at least some admirable qualities, such as integrity, a sense of fair-play, or even kindness to those weaker than him. Baabarr, unfortunately possess none of those.

This film has a number of very good character actors like Govind Namdeo, Sushant Singh and Tinnu Anand, but they are used poorly, and can do little in the face of weak scripting and character development. Mithun, as Dwivedi, is still Mithun, with his characteristic swagger and style of dialogue delivery, and it is a pity to see a talent who started off in the most excellent Mrigaya come to this.

Besides the generally poor quality of the film, there’s also the fact that everything we see here has been done before and done better. There is no new element to capture our imagination, as the film offers the same old “wanna-be-gritty-crime-thriller”, albeit in more tawdry garb. For it's casual, trigger-happy violence, and the glorification of a bhai type this film earns itself a PG-13 rating.

Baabarr is quite a disappointment; this one can be lived without.

Movie Preview : Blue

My intuition is wishy-washy on this one. Promises to be another blown-up, bloated, can-you-do-this stunt-filled film with more hype and very little matter (hopefully will be more complimentary in the Blue movie review) i.e.; another wanna-be Indian action/thriller. For starters there is Aarav, Akshay Kumar , owner of “Blue Shipping & Fisheries” (that’s probably where they got the name, no ?) , eminently eligible bachelor, risk-taker extraordinaire, and very-very sun-glassed. In his honor, an ode to similarly sun-glassed men :

Ah, so cool,
So very, very cool,
I drool
Drool : nothing but saliva

Then there is Sanjay Dutt, the man who must never, ever appear in a wetsuit in public, or else we will all be blinded. Which I am. I can’t type.

** 2 hours later ** Apparently the blindness is temporary. So back to business. Saagar (Dutt) is Aarav’s closest friend, and, the website says, “a straight-forward, simple man with a troubled past and a modest future”. OK. Sam (Zayed Khan) is Sagar’s estranged brother. He’s also arrogant, passionate about bikes (I didn’t see that coming), and seeking refuge from an accidental brush with the mafia. Lara Dutta’s character is creatively named Mona, and she is a marine enthusiast, and Sagar’s lady love. She’s also pretty, “effervescent” (according to the website) and compassionate. How nice, really ! The part about her being compassionate, and . . . er, effervescent. Must help with the floating in the H20.

There is also Katrina Kaif, sporting a chin stud, dishevelled hair, and presumably the surprise package, because the official website doesn't mention her in the cast. Accidental ommission ? I think not. Anyway, the story is that the 3 males go treasure hunting in the Pacific Ocean, amid shark-infested waters. Ms. Dutta is presumably a hanger-on of sorts, because the story doesn’t explicitly mention her role.Very few come back from the deep, we are told. So will these pretty people ?

The music looks good. “Aaj dil gustakh” is very nice, although I do have reservations about the “Chiggy wiggy” song – wish it didn’t have the Bhangra beats forced in there. Kylie Minogue is in the movie as herself. Lara Dutta joins the bevy of bikin-clad Bollywoodian beauties, and looks fit and svelte doing it.



Blue floats up Oct 16th – here’s the official website.

Tags : Blue film preview, Blue movie preview

Upcoming films : October 2009

October has more than the usual number of releases, and there’s something for everyone : romance, comedy, thriller, kiddie stuff. And Sanjay Dutt (I'm not a fan) Govinda and Fardeen Khan star in a lot of them :

Release Date	Film Title	Genre	Director	Actors
Oct 2	Wake up Sid !	Romance	Ayan Mukerji	Ranbir Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma, Anumpam Kher, Supriya Pathak Shah
Oct 2	Do Knot Disturb	Comedy	David Dhawan	Govinda, Sushmita Sen, Lara Dutta, Ritesh Deshmukh, Ranvir Shorey, Rajpal Yadav
Oct 10	Acid Factory	Thriller/Action	Suparn Verma	Fardeen Khan, Dino Morea, Diya Mirza, Aftab Shivdasani, Danny Denzongpa, Manoj Bajpai, Irrfan Khan
Oct 16	Blue	Thriller/Action	Anthony D’Souza	Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Shetty, Zayed Khan, Kabir Bedi, Kylie Minogue
Oct 16	Main aur Mrs. Khanna	Romance/Comedy	Prem Soni	Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Sohail Khan, Govinda
Oct 16	All the Best	Comedy	Rohit Shetty	Ajay Devgun, Bipasha Basu, Fardeen Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Mugdha Godse, Asrani
Oct 23	Bal Ganesh 2	Kid Cartoon	Pankaj Sharma
Oct 30	Aladdin	Adventure/Fantasy	Sujoy Ghosh	Amitabh Bachchan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandes, Sanjay Dutt
Oct 30	London Dreams	Musical	Vipul Amrutlal Shah	Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan, Asin Thottumkal, Rannvijay Singh, Om Puri

Movie Review : Wake up Sid !

Rating : Above average (3.75/5)
Genre : Romance/Drama
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 30 minutes
Director : Ayan Mukerji
Cast : Anupam Kher, Supriya Pathak, Ranbir Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma, Rahul Khanna, Shikha Talsania, Namit Das, Kashmira Shah
Kid rating : PG




WAKE-UP SID : DREAMY DEBUT

Richie-rich Sid, as you know, is your perennially lovable loser. Aisha Bannerji is a motivated wanna-be writer who desires her independence, and she tells Sid, when he asks, a MAN not a BOY (such as he) for a soul-mate. So never the twain shall meet, you think ?

Director Ayan Mukherji’s debut vehicle “Wake up Sid” is actually a film about Siddharth waking up, metaphorically that is, to his life, and his place in it. Aisha, the new girl in town, befriended by Sid, is instrumental in making that happen, but her disdain for his childishness – she calls him a “bachha”, ensures that younger Sid and older Aisha remain “just friends”. So when slacker Sid fails his graduate (or under-grad for the US) exams, misbehaves with his mother (Supriya Pathak Shah), and is booted out by his father (Anupam Kher) he lands up where else, but at his friend Aisha’s doorstep.

Aisha is inching along with her own goals in life – she has a job, but she wants “the” job – as a writer. Romance is in the air once we spy the very artsy looking Rahul Khanna as her boss. Sid must learn to live sans his Dad’s wealth and the various associated comforts, but there is hope in terms of possible work and love might be right around the corner once he meets an old (and very pretty) acquaintance. Life happens, but will it, for Sid and Aisha ?

“Wake up Sid” is sensitively crafted, and humorously told. Much of the humor stems from the interaction between Sid and his friends, and his very guileless remarks like the one where he tells Aisha, whom he’s only just met, that she probably is not the college crowd type, since she looks older. The college camaraderie is reminiscent of parts of “Dil Chahta Hai” which also was a story of very rich kids. And cynically speaking, maybe the atmosphere feels right, and the humor funny, when the vodka is flowing and the wealth inherited ?

Not to say that Mukherjee doesn’t put his best foot forward – he does. He takes this basic coming-of-age story and infuses it with humor, charm, and some very moving familial touches. The film’s screenplay which was good on the whole, was at times so graceful that emotions jumped at you from the screen, and at times, fumbled for logical reasons. It’s not that the film portrayed fantasy, but it did portray a very pretty reality – newbie Aisha not only gets the job, but she obtains a flat in Bombay (which sounds prohibitively expensive on no salary) before she lands the job !

Konkona Sen Sharma might not be the prettiest actress we have, but she wins hands down when it comes to emoting. Her character Aisha Banerjee, was realistically written and portrayed. Ranbir too gave a pretty good performance as Siddharth, although his acting skills could be honed; the cracks showed in the scene where he goes to talk to his Dad about the cheque. His character, that of clear-hearted, fun-loving, guileless Sid was well sketched. Also very believable and adding to the general merriment were Sid’s loyal friends Laxmi (Shikha Talsania) and Rishi (Namit Das).

As far as characters go, Supriya Pathak’s was the one fragile spot. An actress of Pathak’s caliber is stuck in a weak, wishy-washy role as Sid’s mother, where she clings on pathetically to her son’s affections via broken English. She seemed more weak-willed than the average mother, and quite unalike mine, who would have soundly told off (and thrashed) a son like Sid. Anupam Kher depicting Sid’s father Ram Mehra, is outstanding, and I didn’t need to say that, did I ?

Another feather in the cap for the film-makers is the music. The title song, and “Kya karoon” are both youthful and energetic. I also like the very melodious “Aaj kal zindagi” – very vintage Shakar-Ehsaan-Loy and reminded me strongly of “Kaisi hai yeh rut” from “Dil Chahta Hai”. Also very nicely done was the Uday Benegal (remember Indus Creed  ?) sung number “Life is crazy”. I wasn’t floored by “Iktara” but what really drove me nuts was how, whenever a romantic scene came on, the music immediately changed to this English ballad style shit – what ? Hindi not expressive enough for romance ?

So now we come to the part where I tell you that this life drama-cum-romance gave me my money’s worth. Well, yeah – upto a point. I loved the lazy banter, the unselfconscious horsing around, the great leap that Hindi cinema has supposedly taken in actually showing a platonic relationship between a good looking young man and woman, and not having them jump in bed together, even though they sleep only a few feet from each other – yup, wrap your mind around that one ! Bollywood might actually be coming of age !

What didn’t work for me was that I just didn’t fancy the way it ended, happily which was good, but not very believably. Chalk and cheese, the two of them, you know ? Therefore no warm-and-mushy feelings mellowed my drive home, and the bells of true romance on-screen didn’t jangle at all (as they did post Love aaj kal, or post Cheeni kum) – which is kind of a bummer, because that was the point, wasn’t it ?

Still, a very worth-it film from Ayan Mukerji, this one is pretty clean and classy, but gets a PG (and not G) rating for some girly, “how’s your sex-life” kind of talk

Tags : Wake up Sid movie review, Wake up Sid film review, Wake up Sid review

Movie Review : What's your rashee ?

Rating : Above average (3.3/5)
Genre : Comedy / Romance
Year : 2009
Running time : 3 hours 12 minutes
Director : Ashutosh Gowariker
Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Harman Baweja, Anjan Srivastav, Darshan Jariwala, Manju Singh, Dilip Joshi
Kid rating : PG

 WHAT’s YOUR RASHEE (MOVIE REVIEW) : THE LONG AND BORING WAY TO FIND A BRIDE !

Ashutosh Gowariker – film maker extraordinaire, or a director too cheap to hire an editor ? “What’s your rashee ?” was a whopping 192 minutes long. Yes, that’s 3 hours and 12 minutes. And it’s not like Gowarikar made an exception here – Lagaan was about 3 hours and 40 minutes long, Swades 3 hours and 14 minutes, and Jodha-Akbar 3 hours and 35 minutes. So you could call WYR his “shortest” film, although me thinks it could have been much shorter – like by at least 1.5 hours !

This film also had 12 songs (one of which Gowariker has sung himself), on average it seemed, one per Rashee ! Reading the reviews, and finding out that I was about to watch an almost 3.5 hour film with wishy-washy Harman Baweja in the lead made me quake in my boots (or sandals really – it’s still summer-like weather here). However I persevered (that’s my middle name), because the way I see it, the worst from Gowariker still has to be loads better than the best from directors like David Dhawan, Sajid Khan, Anil Sharma and their ilk.

The story, as per my preview, is of Yogesh (Baweja) trying to find a bride in 10 days, to save his family from catastrophe. Having gotten his pointers from a book, and deciding that there are only 12 types of girls in the world, one of each Rashi (or Zodiac Sign) Yogesh decides to meet one of each Rashee and then pick his soul-mate. Priyanka Chopra plays all 12 girls – small-town Anjali , rich heiress Vishakha , fun-loving Kajal , sedate Hansa , fiery Mallika , selfless Pooja , toe-my-line Rajni , wanna-be model Nandini , come-hither Bhavna , gauche Jhankhana , foreign-born Sanjana and superstitious Chandrika.

Gowariker adds some reflections on society in this story – there’s the problem of dowry, and under-age marriage, and the issue of an unwed woman who is not quite the coveted virgin. But while the story is relatively strong, the film suffers from a rather loose screenplay. For a romantic comedy, WYR can never gather up enough pace to render it either romantic or a comedy. The songs are quite interruptive, and meeting one girl after another got quite dreary after about the first 3-4 (and we were counting !).

I’m happy to report however that it’s not all bad news folks. This film is L-O-N-G, as in you-need-3-intermissions-lots-of-refreshments long. But I can’t quite call it a bad film. It reminded me of an older genre of movies, of a thoughtful, sedate style of film, albeit extremely stretched. It’s fairly clean, with some very well shot scenes and songs. Take for example the credits in the beginning of the film – they were done in a play of light and shadow with Priyanka in what looked to be a leotard, and reminded me of the credits in a Bond film.

Priyanka over-shadows Harma effortlessly – she’s come a long way in acting terms. I was especially impressed with her “Anjali” avatar – slouchy posture, diffident gestures, and to top it all the snort – quite marvelous ! Baweja, unfortunately, lacks screen presence. Although he can act quite the ingénue (that’s what saves his performance) and seems quite earnest, he also appears unsure of himself, and it shows. The supporting cast was fantastic – there was Anjan Srivastav as Yogesh’s “Pappa”, Manju Singh as his emotional mother (remember her from the Doordarshan days ?), Darshan Jariwalla as the match-maker uncle and Dilip Joshi as Yogesh’s brother Jitu bhai.

Gowariker who lends his sensibilties to thoughtful dramas quite well, fails here to peddle romantic fluff. Keeping extra footage which you might absolutely love as director might work in ponderous drama, but in a film genre where short, sweet and pithy works best, it’s a pity that the editor’s scissors didn’t go snip-snip a bit more. Thus while this film would be a good DVD watch, it’s hardly the warm-n-fuzzy romantic comedy promised.

Kidwise : This gets a PG rating – some suggestive clothes/postures, some adult-oriented talk (virginity/affairs).

Tags : What's your rashee film review, Film What's your rashee, What's your rashee movie review