Monsters vs Aliens

A movie review of an animation film is the last thing you could expect out of me. But this movie is special, mainly because I wanted to watch something crazy this weekend and secondly because this is MY FIRST 3D MOVIE!!!!

Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) is a happy girl who is about to get married to the man of her dreams when a meteor hits her(not metaphorically, but actually) on her wedding day. She starts glowing green and grows into a 49 feet giant. Labelled as a monster, she is captured by the military and shifted to a secret facility designed specially for monsters captured all over the world. There she meets Dr. Cockroach who is a scientist with the head of an insect(Hugh Laurie), a prehistoric fish-man (Will Arnett); Bob, a slimy indestructible monster (Seth Rogen); and Insectosaurus, a huge bug who stands 350 feet tall. Susan is heart broken and dreams of getting back to her normal life. 

Meanwhile, an alien ship commanded by Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) comes to an alarming proximity to Earth who sends a giant robot to find out the meteor piece that landed on Earth because it contained a valuable substance. The military is not able to control it and thus the monsters are let loose to fight the giant robot. What follows is a roller coaster ride of the fight between the aliens and monsters and how the monsters defeat the enemy.

The movie had a handful of funny sequences and it will always keep you engrossed.  There is a sequence where the President of the United States goes to talk to the alien robot. He climbs a lot of stairs to reach the big eye and there is a keyboard lying there on which he starts playing the tune from “Close encounters of the third kind”, thinking the robot might respond to it. When he does not, the president remixes the tune which further aggravates the robot. The missiles which they fire on the robot had “E.T. go home” written on it! 😆

Another piece of advice. If possible, watch the movie in 3D. This is the first movie which has been produced in real 3D instead of converting the movie in 3D after it is finished. The 3D graphics are mind blowing and you are going to love it. There are scenes of outer space and fight sequences in the alien spaceship which can be truly enjoyed because of the 3D effect. I would give it an extra half star just because of that. Watch the trailer below and you will know what I mean!!

On the down-slide, the movie is very predictable. Well, you can almost guess the story from the name. But then all cartoon movies are like that. 🙂 

Rating in 2D – 3.5/5

Rating in 3D – /5

Official website – http://www.monstersvsaliens.com/

Ghajini – Movie Review

After coming out of the theatre, I asked mom whether she liked the movie. Her answer was:

Isn’t this the kind of movie Sunny Deol used to do 20 years back? 

I told her that she was a genius and this was the best one line in which the movie can be described. Somehow, the movie reminded me of those dubbed Nagarjuna and Rajnikant movies which were released in Bollywood in the 80s and the 90s. Why Oh why do you have to do this Aamir!!!!?!!???!!!!

Ghajini is the story of Sanjay Singhania ( played by Aamir Khan ) who is the owner of a Mobile service provider company. He is super rich(owns a private jet, always moves with 5 cars around him etc etc) and falls in love with an upcoming model Kalpana ( played by Asin Thottumkal ). All this happens in the past tense. In the present, Sanjay is an ultra muscular, salivating, screaming, wide/red eyed human(??) who is suffering from short term memory loss and whose memory span is only 15 minutes. He clicks photographs to remember what he was doing 15 minutes back and is searching for a Mr. Ghajini ( played by Pradeep Rawat ) whom he is supposed to kill. A medical student named Sunita ( who is apparently the dumbest Medical student in the history of world cinema) helps him achieving his goal.

Ten minutes into the movie and the horror of the upcoming disaster became apparent. Thankfully, Asin’s role is the only saving grace of the movie. She brings in stability and novelty to the almost-gone-out-of-control script. The portion of the movie which unfolds in the flashbacks is much more subtle and watchable. For the rest of it, you actually feel like watching an old Sunny Deol movie where he fights with the goons, revenging the love of his life. 

Switching on my “logic” button, the movie took quite a few liberties completely banking on the we-go-to-see-movies-for-entertainment mindset of an average moviegoer. I can understand that showing Aamir’s body was essential and in sync with the story but why was a rich businessman folding the sleeve of his shirts till his armpits even when he is in his office was beyond me ( Aamir looked more like a don than a businessman ). Why would a Medical student go to a Don(Mr. Ghajini) and tells him that there is a man after him and he should be alert when she can see four of his goons standing behind him and might apply a little brain to understand that he is no saint either? Why won’t a woman run out of her house when the electricity fails and when she knows that there are four goons in her house ready to chop her? If someone is telling the whole world that the owner of the biggest mobile service provider company is in love with her, won’t she atleast Google it once to see what he looks like?

A very very irritating background score, some very jagged shots and a cliched been-there-done-that plot. Aamir, we thought that we are done with such movies. Taking up the same revenge drama with a short term memory loss splashed inbetween does not make it different. And in the climax, when you move out of the hospital with the dumb medical student, reach the Don’s lair, beat up his 20 goons ( and in the process, rotated the neck of one of them by 180 degree with a punch ) and fight with the Don himself, what happened to the 15 minute short term memory loss? Or are you saying that you did all that in 15 minutes? 

The music is no great shakes either. “Tu meri adhuri” is the only memorable number. And don’t even think about comparing this one to the original movie – Memento. Infact, there are no parallels. Only the same basic thread. 

I am disappointed because I was expecting something Earth-shattering. I know I am an average stupid moviegoer, but I am not THAT stupid.

Rating – 2.5/5

Director – A. R. Murugadoss

Official Website – http://www.rememberghajini.com/

p.s. This is not something related to the movie, but in the Mall where I was having lunch after watching the movie, the following announcement was being made repeatedly – “We urge the owner of the car number XXXXXX to immediately contact the guard at the underground first level parking area. There is a child locked up in you car who is crying!!”

Sigh! What is the world coming to!

Rab ne bana di jodi – Movie Review

I hate to be the harbinger of bad news but someone has to do the job. The movie could have been the “coming of age” of love stories and it was steering that way in the initial 30 minutes but then somehow nosedived and went deep into the abyss of the cliched. Before going into the details, the basics first.

Rab ne bana di jodi is the story of Surinder Sahni ( played by Shahrukh Khan ) who works in Punjab Power in Amritsar. He is an introvert, down to Earth, simple and sincere man who does not know what love is because he has never known any “ladies”. He goes to attend the marriage of the daughter of his old teacher and ends up marrying her because of the death of the groom. His wife, Taani (played by Anushka Sharma ) is an extrovert, fun loving, ever-smiling-and-laughing girl who is his complete opposite. Taani accepts her faith and tries to be a good wife(although she tells Surinder that she will never love him), but soon gets bored of her monotonous life and enters dancing classes to participate in a dancing competition. Surinder, who is madly in love with Taani, wants to win her over and with the help of his close friend Bobby ( played by Vinay Pathak ), revamps himself into Raj ( I am sick of this name now ) and becomes Taani’s dance partner. What happens next is the (predictable) story.

The movie was great in the initial 30 minutes. Infact, it had that Aditya Chopra stamp and the Rate-o-meter was racing towards a 5/5, but then something went very wrong. Accepting the fact that this was a Bollywood movie and there are certain things which we are supposed to take with a pinch of salt but I think this rule does not apply to a man who gave us DDLJ.

I could never understand why Taani was not able to recognise her husband when he appears as the over the top, eccentric, gaudily dressed Jat who keeps on cracking inane jokes and keeps on doing that Main-hoon-na-hand-over-head jig. Won’t you be able to recognise a family member from his voice and eyes even if he does a complete makeover?

I could never understand how an introvert and inarticulate Surinder can turn into someone completely flashy and gregarious on the snap of  a finger. 

And I could never understand that how a girl who has just lost the man whom she loved and her father, can be in a mental state to think about marrying someone who is a complete stranger.

The problem with directors like Aditya Chopra and Suraj Barjatya is that they are not able to come out of the shadow of their trend setting blockbusters and keep serving old wine in new bottles. They are not able to realize that the audience has moved ahead and people yawn when they hear sentences like – “Ek ladki sirf yehi chahti hai ke koi usse bahut pyar kare”, when they see characters talking to themselves in long monologues with a voilin playing in the background, when they see the hero fighting a Sumo Wrestler for no apparent reason and when they bear a song thrown inbetween a sequence just because the director wants his 5-lucky-heroines to make a guest appearance. And if you hear – “Hum hain raahi pyar ke, phir milenge, chalte chalte” repeated n number of times in the movie, then just pretend that you never heard it. Don’t worry, its just Aditya “trying” to create the – “bade bade shehroon main aisi choti choti baatain hoti rehti hain” magic.

The movie drags in the second half and why not? There are only three main characters and the running length of the movie is over 2.30 hours. Shahrukh is very believable in the role of the simpleton Surinder and equally unbelievably inadequate in the role of Raj. The movie is worth watching only because of the adorable way in which he portrays the role of Surinder. Vinay Pathak is good in his role and seeing him in the same frame as Shahrukh is like watching Tom Cruise and Woody Allen together. Both of them belong to such different genre of movies. Anushka is very confident inspite of being a new comer and has the capacity to go places. The music of the movie is average and “Haule Haule” is the only song which would make you smile.

After watching movies like A Wednesday, Rang De Basanti and Taare Zameen pe, movies like Rab ne bana di jodi seem to be inadequate and below standards. “Mushy” and “Romantic” also has a new definition and it is called “Jab We Met”. Another good story gone down the drain. I hope it works somehow, just for Surinder. 

p.s. Don’t forget to watch the photo album of the honeymoon in Japan in the end. 

Rating – 2.5/5

Director – Aditya Chopra

Official Website – Rab ne bana di jodi

Dostana – Movie Review

I think I am getting old, because the people around me were laughing and enjoying the movie while I was yawning like a hippopotamus(I almost took a nap in the second half). Is this what happens when you are exposed to world cinema and have a yardstick to compare? Or am I seriously getting old!!! 😦

 

Dostana is a story set up in Miami where Kunal (played by John Abraham) works as a fashion photographer (Although for the first 20 minutes, I was in an illusion that he was playing a model), Sameer (played by Abhishek Bachchan) is a “male” nurse (Although he keeps on telling everyone that he is a nurse and everyone in turn keep on asking him whether he wears a skirt to work. He never uses the word MALE nurse!!) and Neha (played by Priyanka Chopra) works for a fashion magazine. Neha needs to sublet her house because she can’t afford the installments. Kunal and Sameer are in desperate need of a house but they are refused an entry in Neha’s apartment because only girls are allowed. Both pretend to be gay lovers and gain an entry. Kunal and Sameer slowly fall in love with Neha but soon enters Abhimanyu ( played by Bobby Deol ) who is Neha’s boss and who is in love with her too!!!! (Very Original. Ain’t it??) Who gets the girl in the end is the darn story!

In the first half there are two things which are shoved right on your face – The word GAY and John’s chest. The word has been used unnecessarily in so many places that it starts getting irritating after a while. Ok! Its great that the movie is making a point but can you please stop underlining it until the pencil breaks??  And what is it with John? He is hardly wearing anything in the movie! In some scenes we can almost see the line separating his two newly acquired tight bums! Again, its great that he got a Firang trainer and did a lot of hard work n all to get that physique but if I have to see a skin show, I’ll go and see something called P-O-R-N. 

If you are thinking that the movie is addressing any sort of serious issue, then forget it. The movie has all the stereotypical Gay cliches expected in an Indian movie. Priyanks do say something like – “I am cool with it! Its a personal choice!” and Sameer’s mother (played by Kirron Kher ) also accepts John as her “Bahu/Damaad/whatever” and makes John perform the “Grihapravesh” and given him her “Khaandani kangan”, but that’s it! That is the extend to which the movie goes to address the issues. 

There is something very disjoint and unsettling about the whole movie. There are certain sequences and background sounds whose reason of existence was beyond my comprehension. For example, when Priyanka is introduced, the background music had a lady singing – “Kiss me baby!!!!”. What was that?? She was just saying hello to her new flat mates. And there is a background score which goes – What the F*ck!!! Yes, you read it right! 

All in all, a completely watch-it-on-dvd-later kind of a movie. It was enjoyable in parts, specially when all the three guys were trying to woo Priyanka and a few scenes where Kirron Khen and Boman Irani make an appearance. The music is topping the charts and is peppy – another reason to watch the movie, although the song “Desi girl” is completely misplaced(There was an auction happening there. Damn it!!!). Priyanka is cool, what a Bollywood heroine is supposed to be. Nothing more, nothing less. Abhishek does his part well. John is naked.

A great story gone wasted. This movie could have been much better. But, I have a feeling that it is going to work. It will be a hit because people were enjoying it! And Oh! Yes, there was this couple(boy-girl) sitting just in front of me in the theatre, whom I took to be conjoined twins. You know, the ones who are born with conjoined heads and which can only be separated by surgery? It was only during the interval when one of them got up to get the popcorns, that I gasped in horror and realised that they were lovers and their heads could actually be separated!  

I am DEFINITELY getting old!

Rating – 2/5

Directed by – Tarun Mansukhani

Official Website – http://www.dostanathefilm.com/

A Wednesday – Movie Review

There are some movies which make you stand up and clap. Movies which stand out as examples as to how powerful the medium of Cinema can be. Movies which symbolise our times and go down in the history as cult movies. A Wednesday is one such movie.

Quite frankly, when I woke up this morning, I was not even aware of the existence of such a movie. Since there was no other choice available and since Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah were heading the starcast, I thought of giving it a try (Even though my family was quite skeptical about the movie). By the time we came out of the theatre, we realised that our doubts were quite baseless.

In my father’s words – “Its a long time since I have seen such a meaningful movie.”

I actually jumped out of my skin because I don’t remember the last time he said this about a movie.

The movie traces the events of a Wednesday when Prakash Rathod(played by Anupam Kher), the Mumbai Commissioner of Police gets an an anonymous call demanding the release of four dangerous criminals responsible for bomb blasts across India. The caller (played by Naseeruddin Shah) warns the Commissioner that if the demand was not met, he would be forced to trigger five bombs which he has planted across Mumbai. Prakash Rathod is someone who is not ready to give in so easily to the demands of a fanatic and dispatches a team of his best men to track down the man. The caller is always a step ahead and the Commissioner realises that he cannot put the lives of so many people in jeopardy. He handpicks two of his best men, Jai Singh (played by Aamir Bashir) and Arif Khan (played by Jimmy Shergill) to hand over the four terrorists as demanded. The “Caller” on the other hand is keeping track of the police activities using a news reporter (played by Deepal Shaw) whom he sends after the police. 

What the audience gets is a thriller of a dimension which has not been seen in the Indian Cinema since a long time. Its not a conventional Bollywood movie because there is no hero. There is only a cast. Neeraj Pandey should be given a pat on his back for a brilliant screenplay. He does not waste any time in building up the well defined no nonsense plot. He does not slow down the tempo of the movie with meaningless songs or long stretched sequences. The movie has less than 2 hours of running time and is very well edited by Shree Narayan Singh. 

Anupam Kher is brilliant in his role as the Commissioner who despite being on his toes because of the threat does not lose the focus. The rest of the cast including Aamir, Jimmy Shergill and Deepal also have very believable roles.

A special word for Nasseruddin Shah. I think he deserves an Oscar for the performance. Its not the loud, over the top performances which we generally identify with. Its crafty and subtle. Yet it leaves an everlasting impact. And don’t miss the climax in which he delivers a set of dialogues which will give you a terrible gooseflesh and tears at the same time. The climax is so unexpected that it would be a good idea to put a tape on the mouth of any person who tries to tell you about it before watching the movie. 🙂 It will catch you completely unaware. 

Don’t miss this movie. I recommend it very strongly. 

Rating – 4.5/5

Director – Neeraj Pandey

Official Website – A Wednesday

Rock On – Movie Review

Some old photographs in a box – forgotten friends and dreams – a compromised life – success without happiness – a chance meeting with an old friend and nothing to talk – picking up the pieces of an unfinished story – that’s Rock on.

Many of us have gone through such feelings, when we have lost our most dear friends because of reasons beyond our understanding. When we pick up old photographs of those lost friends and find them meaningless and meaningful at the same time. What a time it was!! Did all that happened in this birth? Somehow, that is where this movie connects. Infact, that is why movies like Jaane tu and Dil Chahta Hai connected. All of us saw ourselves right there on the screen.

Rock On is a story of four friends who create a rock band called Magik. Aditya Shroff is the lead vocalist (played by Farhan Akhtar) who pens down unconventional poetry and give the band a unique voice. Joe is the lead guitarist (played by Arjun Rampal) who is very idealistic and does not believe in compromising with his principles or music. He is talented but does not know how to do the lobbying. Kedar Zaveri or K.D. is the drummer (played by Purab Kohli) who is the sole successor of a family of jewelers but prefers his drums to the suffocating family business. He is the joker of the gang and the most lively character in the movie. Rob is the keyboard player (played by Luke Kenny) who is the most level headed member of the band, someone you can rely upon to resolve the problems in minutes.

Everything was going fine and the band won the Channel V contract for an Album when the Band disintegrated and the success story died before its inception. The four of them went their own ways forgetting each other and leading a life which they never wanted to lead till Aditya’s wife (played by Prachi Desai) meets Kedar by chance ten years later and then comes across some long forgotten photographs of her husband’s life about which she was completely unaware. And thus starts the uphill task of the band’s reunion.

Rock on does not have the flamboyance of Dil Chahta Hai but is more grounded in reality. It does not reaches the standards set by DCH but is very believable in its own way. Yes, you can draw parallels but then you can do that with 99% of the movies in Bollywood. The movie works at many levels. The strings of your heart will be stirred.

The movie does not belong to a single actor. All the four lead actors never leave the skin of their roles. Arjun Rampal shows a maturity which was unexpected while Farhan is able to bring out the subtle difference in his character during the ten year span even though this is his first movie as an actor. Although he is the most successful of the four members of his band after the split, he is still angry about the way his life has turned up and it shows in his strained relationship with his wife. Prachi is the surprise package of the movie. She acts like a seasoned actress and it does not look at all that this is her first film. The scene in which she tells Aditya that she is pregnant is her best. Shabana Goswami Koel Purie as Joe’s wife is also perfect in her role of a frustrated woman who has to give up her dreams to run the business of her failed husband.

On the negative side, the movie picks up pace in the second half and does not have much of a comic dose which seems to be quite essential for the Indian audience(specially since they are lapping up crude movies with 15 over the top comic sequences). Also the movie trudges too close to the abyss of a typical Bollywood movie towards the end and it is on the verge of loosing its unique identity.

The music composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is very apt and suits the mood of the movie like a glove. And the concert at the end of the movie will want you to get up and dance. A good story, crazy music, well etched roles and good acting. What else do we want?

Directed by – Abhishek Kapoor

Rating  – 3.5/5

The Dark Knight – Movie Review

And thus arrived the mother of all Superhero movies. And what an arrival!!! Its dark, its gloomy, its dangerous and it makes your hair stand. It reinvents the villain in Cinema and pours an avalanche of well crafted sequences and performances your way. This was the most awaited movie of the year and it was worth all that wait.

Christopher Nolan directs this sequel of Batman Begins where Batman(Christian Bale) is pitched against the most malicious villains of all times- The Joker (played by Heath Ledger). The Villain who does not care about money but just want to see the world in chaos. There is no way you can scare him because he has nothing to loose. Then there is Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) who is the district attorney and has a strained relation with Batman. He is Gotham city’s only hope as a hero with a face and Batman is banking on him so that he could live a normal life with his childhood sweetheart Rachel Dawes who is oscillating between the two men. In comes the Joker and everything turns topsy turvy.

The movie belongs to Heath Ledger. Never have a villain been so terrifying and so much filled with malevolence. Its been a long time since we have come across such a fine piece of villainy(read acting) and I can strongly smell an Oscar. Its rare when an actor takes over a movie with his sheer presence even though he is playing a villain. This was Heath Ledger’s last movie as he passed away in January 2008. Joker will always be remembered by this performance and whoever takes over the role in the next movie in the series will be having some pretty big shoes to fill in. Christian Bale is also good as the man torn between his duty and love(as all superheroes are) while Harvey has some very realistic graphics done on his face in the second half.

The movie boasts of some great action sequences although I didn’t like the one towards the end as it was too haphazard and hazy. In this movie Batman can be seen flying for the first time when he goes to HongKong to abduct Lau for the Gotham City police. That was one hell of an action sequence. The sequence in which Joker attacks the police vans carrying Harvey is also well executed and that is where the Batpod appears for the first time. Pretty neat vehicle. 🙂 The Joker is in police custody near the interval and you think that its over but its just the lull before the storm. And yes, Harvey Two-Face also makes an appearance.

Do watch this movie as it is one of the best Superhero movie of recent times. Dark, full of turmoil and with fabulous performances. Watch it for Joker, the perfect Anti-Hero. Its nothing less than sheer delight.

Rating – 4.5/5

Director – Christopher Nolan

Official Website – http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/

Love Story 2050 – Movie Review

What could have been the first Indian sci-fi movie and a turning point in the Indian cinema turns out to be a damp squib. The movie reminded me of 10,000 B.C. and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. 10,000 B.C. because the promo of the movie were very promising to say the least and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom because I consider that movie a classic example of how a director can castrate a beautiful and fresh story. Love Story 2050 had a story which most of our movies are lacking now a days. It could have turned into one of the best movies of the year, but alas, just showing a “Star Wars” inspired Mumbai does not mean good direction.

Karan(Harman Baweja) is an only son of a multimillionaire who is very much deprived of love and affection as his mother passed away when he was ten and his father has no time for him. Sana(Priyanka Chopra) is a sweet and shy typical Bollywood heroine who is quite opposite to Karan. A few meetings and songs later, both fall in love. Boman Irani plays the eccentric scientist called Dr. Yatinder Khanna who is Karan’s uncle and on the verge of making a time machine. The couple is about to get married when tragedy strikes and Sana dies in an accident and Karan has to take a journey to 2050 to get back his lady love.

The movie takes inspiration from so many Hollywood movies that its mind boggling. Its hard to believe that the Mumbai skyline would undergo such a drastic and sea change in the next 42 years. Maybe the movie should have been titled Love Story 2350. The graphics are straight out of Star Wars with flying cars and laser guns. The female robot is straight out of “Bicentennial Man” while Boo, the robotic teddy bear is copied from the movie “Artificial Intelligence“. Boman Irani’s character reminds one of Dr. Brown from the movie “Back to the Future“. The movie also defies our understanding of reincarnation. If Sana died in 2008, then she must be 42 years old in 2050 after her rebirth, but she is very much a young and successful pop star. Maybe she was taking a break in between and spending some time with our Gods. Dr. Khanna does not find it hard to fix a robot functioning on A.I. in 2050 although the technology has taken giant leaps. And yes, some scenes are shamefully lifted from the the above mentioned movies.

The movie is bearable in the first half when the couple is in 2008 and the love story is developing. It has its own moments although they are very few in number. The second half drags as there are too many unwanted scenes which could have been left at the editor’s table. I could not understand why the Mortal Combat sequence was there in the movie. The movie needs a very heavy editing to make it bearable specially towards the end.

Harman, who is touted as the next superstar, is good enough for his first movie, although its not a dream debut like Hrithik’s. He needs to watch his diction and needs to work on the emotional scenes. His starts squeaking when he cries. Priyanka is passable. Boman Irani overdoes the act a little bit at times although he does not have much of a role. Archana Puran Singh manages to raise a few laughs in her blink-and-she-is-gone role. The music is already topping the charts and is good. “Mausam Achanak ye badla kyun” and “Milo na milo” are certainly above average songs.

A terrific story gone wasted and a terrible amount of money too. But still i would not like to trash it completely as I have seen worse in the past few months. A two out of five as the movie didn’t turn out to be a sheer torture like Tashan. 😀

Rating – 2/5

Director – Harry Baweja

Official Site – http://www.lovestory2050.com/

Sarkar Raj – Movie Review

After shocking and terrifying the masses with “RGV ki Aag” and “Darling”, Ram Gopal Verma is back with the sequel of his most successful movie in recent times – Sarkar. Frankly speaking, I could never understand how a director who made Satya, can make movies like Aag. Thankfully, Sarkar Raj pulls up Ramu and he is in his top form.

The movie picks up where Sarkar left, but like our good old soap operas on the idiot box, the plot jumps two years in future. Shankar Nagre (Abhishek Bachchan)  has now completely taken his father’s place as Sarkar and his father(Amitabh Bachchan) is nothing more than a opinion provider and someone who can help with his contacts and pull in the crowds. Enters Anita Rajan (Aishwarya Rai), who is keen to set up a power plant in a rural area of Maharashtra but the only catch is that 5 villages and 40,000 people will have to relocate. Subhash Nagre refuses to help but his son talks him into helping Anita as he thinks that the project will be beneficial for Maharashtra in the long term. Soon, Shankar starts a campaign to convince the people of the villages to be displaced and is almost successful when the trouble starts. Things are not as simple as they seem to be and there are vested forces at work and this project turns into a landmine of tricks and betrayal. I would not like to go deeper into the movie as it would give away the plot which has its own share of surprises and shocks.

If you have liked Sarkar, then you would like Sarkar Raj too. Although comparison with the first movie is inevitable but the movie lives up to its successor. Abhishek Bachchan is at par with his father and both of them compliment each other perfectly well. Aishwarya is also good as the woman in power who is still helpless and groping with the system and her father. The movie has a dark feel to it and is too serious. Although no one will expect comedy scenes in such a movie, but I was wondering throughout the movie that when was the last time this family had a laugh or a good time? And Ramu used a lot of different camera angles which didn’t make sense to me. There were some scenes which almost made me dizzy because of the erratic and haphazard way they were shot. On the other side, some scenes were very effective because of the way light was used in them. Well, that’s Ramu for us. Always trying new things and not afraid of failing.

And yes, before you ask, there is ample scope for part three. Go ahead and watch it if you liked Sarkar and if you want to find out what finally happened to the Nagre family.

Rating – 3.5/5 

Director – Ram Gopal Verma

Bhoothnath – Movie Review

Bhoothnath was never supposed to be something unusual or special. The promos were not very impressive and the moment you saw them, you knew the story. That somehow worked in the favour of the movie. Its not that its great, but its enjoyable. Its kiddie stuff with a terrible baghban-ish, Yawn-ish twist at the end.

Aditya (played by Shahrukh Khan) and Anjali (played by Juhi Chawla) come to live in the Nath Villa in Goa with their son Aman (played by Aman Siddiqi) whom they fondly call Banku(!?!!). Aditya works in a Cruise liner and leaves his wife (and her done-to-death sandwiches) and son in the house to return to his job. Banku(!!!) soon befriends the ghost (played by Amitabh Bachchan) of the owner of the house and starts calling him Bhoothnath although his real name is Kailash Nath. Banku and the Bhoot become great pals and are seen playing pranks on the school principle (played by Satish Shah) and the drunkard Anthony (Rajpal Yadav). The movie is bearably entertaining till this point but the whole fun flies out of the window when the secret is revealed to Anjali and Aditya. From that point onwards the story takes a Baghban-ish turn where the ghost reveals his story.

The movie was supposed to be a comedy which should have been left that way instead of creating a mishmash out of it. Shahrukh Khan has nothing much to do and appears in a few scenes. And yes, his ponytail is at display in the second half. Juhi Chawla is her sweet bubbly self who keeps on giggling and giving her infectious smile. She is in great form and its actually good to see her and Shahrukh together after such a long time. Rajpal Yadav is wasted. I wonder why he took the role. Satish Shah manages a few laughs. In the end, its Amitabh and the kiddo who manage to keep the faltering interests of the audience at bay although they are quite unsuccessful at the end. Amitabh looks funny at whatever he does right from sticking his tongue out or the pranks he plays.

The movie is strictly kiddo stuff and they are going to love it. The songs by Vishal Shekhar are just about passable. There are some points in the movie where the songs are forced into and they just slacken the pace. And don’t worry if your kid dozes off in the climax or the movie looks like it was made 20 years back and was not released at that time due to some reasons. Its perfectly normal.

Director – Vivek Sharma

Rating – 2.5/5

Check out the official website here.