Movie Review : Green Zone : Show this one the red light.....

I went for this movie for the frenetic combination of Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon. The Bourne Movies had a solid plot and were shot at such frentic pace, that they kept you riveted to the screen. And I expected that from this movie too.

The first few scenes had the Greengrass stamp all over it. With shots changing every second, the screenplay was frenetic. We were in Iraq in 2003 and eveything was exploding all over the place. People runnings, bombs exploding, military guys parading around, snipers hiding in towers, bricks falling all over the place, dialogues running simultaneously, frenetic camerawork - a million things happening at one time on the screen. It would take a first time viewer some time to get used to the handheld shaky camerawork, but that was what I had expected.

The first few minutes were excellent, because I was just soaking in the atmosphere created in the film - art direction, camerawork, background score - everything top class. But then I started moving in my seat and started to get a little bored. I coudlnt put a finger on what was wrong, but then I figured it out. The plot was too cliched, the visuals too common. The premise was similar to what you had seen earlier, the plot was predictable and there was nothing too spectacular going on the screen. The screenplay was awesome, but the purpose was boring. That's where the Bourne films were far more superior than this one. When you do not have an interesting enough plot, the screenplay will not save you. Matt Damon is solid in a role he can sleepwalk in and others are competant. But none of that matters when you are getting bored by the run of the mill action movie !

I would say you wait for this movie to arrive on a DVD or on television and save your money. Show the red light to the Green Zone!

Rating : 4 / 10

Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes - More Fists, Less Wits !

When you place an intellectual superhuman detective in the hand of Guy Ritchie what do you expect? Ofcourse, he turns into a gun rattling, Bone crunching hero. So forget about your image of Sherlock, submerge into Ritchie's version. Quirky, Aloof, Explosive, Athletic and ofcourse with extraordinary knowledge and observation powers - played by Robert Downey Jr.

The plot of the movie is preposterous. The villian who is caught by Sherlock and then hanged for practicing black magic, returns from the dead to complete his nefarious plan. And Sherlock has to question his own logical mind to drill down to a solution to this supernatural mystery. Ofcourse, Dr.Watson tags along - reluctantly to solve it and bring the wrongdoer to his super - "natural death".

I had recently read The hounds of the Baskervilles. I imagined Sherlock as this lean, frail, geeky character - Ritchie's version is a six pack, athletic Sherlock - where brawn equals brain. Nobody in this world can stand Sherlock except for dearest Dr.Watson and this relationship is at the heart of Ritchie's caper. The chemistry between Downie and Jude Law is simple spectacular. Sherlock is quiet clearly jealous of sharing Watson with anyone else, and the only person who really can stand him or put him in his place is Watson. There are no women involved with these 2 men in the classic novel, but surely the movie version has 2 women in love with the main leads, though in the movie Sherlock clearly cares for Watson more than anyone else. The original Sherlock, is also by no means a timid one, he too goes quiet willingly into seemingly impossible situations and comes out safe - because he had already deduced what would happen next. In the movie even Sherlock's fighting has a method, but this Sherlock deals more with fists than with wits and thats where the movie somehow loses its original or legendary charm.

The problem with Ritchie's film is that he goes too far off on a tangent. The movie is not intellectually challenging or mysterious, its just one hell of a rollercoaster ride. When the deduction does come, you are not really thinking how he came to the conclusion because you were never thinking of the problem. Deduction is secondary, entertainment is primary. Battle of Wits gives way to Battle of Fists. But never the less the movie is a brisk entertainer and one thing that keeps you bound to your seats is Robert Downey Jr.'s scintillating performance. Casting him was a stroke of pure genius. Robert Downey simply transforms into this self-indulgent, sniffing, deducing genius and keeps you rivetted with his performance. His bickering with Jude Law gives you probably one of the best screen chemistry's ever. Also, I simply cannot wait for the next installment where Sherlock will meet his most brilliant adversary - Prof.Moriarity , a supervillian. And talks are that Brad Pitt is gonna be Moriarity. Awesome. Hope the film is more the battle of wits we deserve.

The art design of this movie is splendid, and you are transported to old London. The dialogues are brilliantly written and the screen play is fast paced and engaging. What enhances the mood, is the awesome background score. Guy Ritchie has always been known for his style and the movie exhudes style, though in an old fashioned way :).

The theater is filled with forgettable movies except 3 idiots and Sherlock. So go ahead and watch this movie for its total Paisa vasool - though be ready for more fists and less wits !

Rating : 6.5 / 10

Movie Review - AVATAR - A familiar tale in an Unfamiliar World...

Avatar - the most anticipated movie of the year, is out and "woaahh" does it score high on imagination. If Imagination, Creativity and Vision were the only criteria to judge a film, this film sets standards beyond compare.

Pandora - is something we hope our planet could be, or probably was. It's got aboriginals- slender, tall, with enhanced sensory capabilities and with a cord to literally connect to the network of nature.  Its animals sleek, fast, dangerous, colorful. Its Flora huge, colorful, iridescent. Its water sparkling and pure. Its mountains hovering in air ! But yes, Human's are still a very ARROGANT race. Even in their imagination, they think that any dominant / intelligent species of any world  to be some kind of an AVATAR of the human race. 2 legs, 2 hands, 1 head, 2 eyes - think of any intelligent alien form imagined in movies and its got a human-like structure. But then all barriers of imagination cannot be broken in one movie itself.

The amount of detailing gone into the creation of the imaginary world is stupendous. The Vision commendable. The performances are adequate. The background score is awesome. Technically this movie is brilliant.

But then as I said a movie cannot be judged as a visual spectacle alone, atleast when it tells an emotional story. The movie is yet another statement on the greed of the human race. First destroy your own planet by sucking out all its wealth and then use your powers to invade other worlds and suck them dry too. So, here the earthlings have entered Pandora and the most important thing for them is a mineral - way way more precious & powerful than Plutonium. A team of scientist have created a mixed breed between a human and an aboriginal; and this Avatar is controlled by the human from whos gene the mix breed is created. You have a matrix type chamber where you sleep and you are mentally connected to your AVATAR and can control all its motions. And our hero's AVATAR, manages to infiltrate the native clan, pass on their secrets to the humans and when Humans try to exploit them, he realises his mistakes and fights for the natives.

The story is a familiar one;that of an opressor  and an opressed; and how the opressed stand up and fight for their right, their liberation, their world. Nothing new. And here , it somehow remains a spectacle and does not transcend beyond that. Just when it is about to connect to you its over. Though it leaves a tremendous potential for many more Sequels. A whole new world gives you the power to write whole new stories in this world.

If you ask me to choose between AVATAR and TITANIC - I would  probably go for TITANIC, because , to me, it had 2 very strong characters, with whom I could connect and the movie was more than just a visual spectacle, more than the special effects - it was about the love between 2 individuals. That touched a chord with me. And this is where AVATAR does not score too high. Independence Day was more emotionally charged, Jurassic Park was more thrilling, there are not many movies better than "Braveheart" when it comes to opressed fighting back and one more movie from MelGibson "Apocalypto" which was on the same theme and was a brilliant mixture of emotions and effects. But none were perfect. What I am asking for is a perfect film, - which is rare. AVATAR transcends all boundaries of visual effects and  scores decently on the human aspect as well ( unlike a 2012 or a 10,000 BC ).

This movie is like an introduction to the world and that takes up most of the time. After this if any sequels are made, the director can concentrate on making a more wholesome and touching experience.

Definitely a BIG BIG "YES" from me for you to go visit the theater, open the Pandora's box and watch this movie of a familiar story in an unfamiliar world. The spectacle, the technology is enough to enthrall you, and you will come out wanting more, coz you are just getting comfortable in the surroundings with your 3D glasses.

Rating : 8 / 10

Ninja Assassin: Blood and Blood and more blood

Release date: November 25, 2009
Release country: US

Ninja Assassin as the name suggests is about Ninjas and assassin and yes that’s all.

The opening scene when a ninja chops of half of the upper face of its adversary, you move to the edge of the seat in a lot of anticipation only to be disappointed.

This is story of clans who kidnap young kids and brutally train them to become ninjas. One of the ninja turns against his clan when his love is murdered. He then with help of Europol gets its clan terminated.

There are some beautiful fight sequences with swords but honestly the blood and gore is so much that you become indifferent to it. The scenes of training the children and scenes between the hero and his love are far too many while the scenes where the hero plans to use the Europol officers for his revenge are abrupt and lack detail.

The ninja flying, sword dancing and blood splattering action is good only if it was supported by similar proficient reasoning. In short, more was expected from director James McTeigue who is also the maker of the Matrix trilogy… the cult action movies…

My Rating: 2/5

BLUE- a perfect disaster

Blue_ rating 2 out of 10


Like akshay kumar has decided to beat his own record of giving consecutive CRAPS here comes another DISASTER .


Story has nothing new to offer , a group of criminals , younger brother trapped between bad guys and for his life elder brother goes for what he had decided not to do. A sexy girlfriend who was on gunpoint of bad guys and finally a fox like friend….


If it was not enough an international pop star’s cold special appearance .


Performance ? yes nobody has performed because director’s role was missing .
Like akshay kumar has written his own pathetic dialogues . every time he opens his mouth to shoot pathetic dialogues if u see his performance zayed khan has done better than him in the movie. Sanjay dutt , why director had chosen him is a big question..
sanjay dutt was not looking in shape and not at all a deep sea diver . he was looking tired and FAT. Lara dutta had nothing to do accept to do a bikini song.


Stunts of B grade Hollywood movie would be better than this .and if one wants to see underwater marine world, he should see discovery channel but not this.


Biggest disappointment was from director’s side. he has made it without any planning.


Total waste of producer’s money and people like me who went to see this crap.

Movie Review : Wanted - Some Hajmola.....

Genre - Action

Ek thi "Ghajini" aur ek hai yeh "Wanted" but woh bhi tha "Kuch Bhi" aur yeh bhi hai "Kuch Bhi". Beware guys the South Falvour is moving Northwards ! Frankly when I watched this film in Telugu - Pokhiri it seemed believable but in Hindi - Baat kuch hazam nahi hoti. The only change is probably the mindset.

Wanted is a perfect vehicle for the beefcake Salman. No, he did not have to work out and prepare for this film, coz he was made for it, or u might say the role was made for him. This film probably has all the requirements Salman would want in a film - 1) He barely has to act - Check , 2) He has to vomit style all over the screen - Check 3) He gets some fast songs to show his signature dance steps - Check. Waise if there was an Oscar for the Most Style Exuded in a Film by an Actor - Salman would win it hands down for this film. Har dialogue main attitude ki barsaat. In some places he is so full of himself, he forgets to act, but thats alright - Salman Bhai hai , Acting kisko chahiye.

So in this all Brawn no Brain film, you have a plethora of Villians. They are the ruthless underworld of Mumbai puppeteered by a Bhai sitting in some South East Asian city. Salman Khan - urf "Radhe" is a roadside ruffian who blasts anybody who comes in his way and can do anything for money. He can change sides, at the drop of a hat full of money, in this Mafia war and work for any side who pays more. Then there is this a damsel in distress - Ayesha Takia who's family is being blackmailed by a lecherous police inspector - Mahesh Manjeraker. Well, without delving too much into the story the movie is how this roadside ruffian keeps saving the damsel in distress from this lecherous police inspector and in between keeps pulverising and smashing other gangsters.

You dont require a story for such a movie. You sketch some action sequences, compose some groovable songs which might or might not make any sense and write some stupid comedy sequences to fill in the blanks - ranging from the extremely crude to the rib tickling. Then probably you can go for the old fashioned twist in the end which explains everything.

Prabhu Deva is the king of dance, and today I seriously believe that. He can not only move each and every muscle of his body but also make the Camera dance. The amount of work the camera does through out the film is phenomenal. Salman does not turn, the camera turns. Salman does not have to move much in the songs, the camera dances for him. Sample the first sequence where the Main Villain is watching a kickboxing fight and you will know what I mean. The camera zooms past the crowd, swirls, swishes, turns and comes to a grinding halt into the nostrils of our Villain. Its not that I am against such a style - but sirf style ke liye itna naach is too maach ,oops much!

Ek tha woh Angry Young Man in Deewar aur yeh hai aaj ka Angry "Pretending to be" Young man - Zameen , Aasmaan ka farak. This is for die hard Salman fans - coz as I said earlier the role was made for him and and this film can also work for man-eaters - with enough pulp to satiate even their desires. Ghajini broke all box office records, but I am not sure Wanted can do the same - some stories work only in the south but ofcourse the STAR POWER can push it.Afterall, Salman is doing in this film what he does best. But if you ask me, Itna masala bharaa hua hai ki seriously some "Hajmola" is Wanted !

Rating : 4 / 10 -- Buss Kya --- Salman deserves this much atleast.

Movie Reviews - Ghajini and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi ... A tale of 2 superstars....

Hi everyone.... I am back :) If you are wondering where I was --- I was busy getting married... So now I am Merrily Married! 

In the meantime I got the chance of slipping away for 2 of the most awaited movies of the year... The New Year has truly been BASHED by Bollywoods 2 biggest stars - one with his Ham, other with his Wham Bam....

1st -- Ghajini

Rating : 5.5 / 10 

My Say : Pure Brawn, little brain....

Probably the most Hyped / Super Marketed Movie of all time! And By God does it need that kind of marketing :) 

My Fav - Aamir is back and with a tank of a body.... Ghajini is probably the most unique movie of year 2008. It probably fulfills Aamir's fetish to work in a complete and total Southie Style Action-Masala flick.. Hats off to the actor to try something extremely different, but not Hats off to the movie though. Awesome in parts, absurd in a few and dragging in the dieing minutes...

My rating is completely due to : 1) A good first half. 2) Aamir's effortless take on both the Stylish businessman and the brute force of destruction. 3) A stellar debut by Asin. 

There is a scene where the police keep an unconsious Aamir bare chested on a table. You look at his brute body and you are reminded of the incredible hulk. His huffs, puffs, roars, spits are as dangerous as his punches - which break bones, turn heads... The amazing thing is Aamir makes it believable. You arent amazed when he bashes up 20 people at one time, coz you already know its possible.

The other telling scene is when Aamir first meets Asin. Aamir bearly speaks a word but speaks volumes and Asin keeps mumbling and steals the show. Asin is a brilliant actress and mark my words, she is gonna give bollywood beauties a run for their money. Rarely have I seen an actress doing comedy so effortlessly, ala Sridevi and Madhuri.

Apart from that,  the movie is a complete masala, no brainer type wham -bam Southie brainbuster. The coincidences, plot are actually extremely funny... The first half gives good entertainment but the second half gives a weird twist in the tale and then an extremely predictable ending. Towards the end you start praying the hero does not forget everything again , now that he has built up all the anger and momentum! But he does.... N you start jumping in your chair. Then he remembers everything again and the film comes close to conclusion... Then a song starts and you wonder if this will ever end, you feel as pulverised as the villian towards the end... But fortunately it ends... 

If the director would have given it a more Hindi film sensibility, the editor would have made the film tighter, this would have been a much better movie. Actually, the end frustrates you and hence you leave with a confused state of mind. Don't ask about logic, because it generally fails. What keeps you glued is Aaamir and totally him in the second half. The rating is justified because its kind of a fun watch with friends and has a good first half. The weakest part of the movie is A.R.Rahman's music and that is truly a cardinal sin. 

Is it watchable?... Yes ofcourse,,, if u love Aamir - 100%, if you love Mithunda then too , if you like Rajni films -absolutely... Other than that ,,, sorry guys - its not your piece of cake.... Its Pure Brawn,,, little brain!! 

2nd -- Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Rating : 4 / 10

My Say: Sab ki Bajaa Di Thodi.....

The second superstar does what he does best... Hammmm.... Rab Ne Banaa Di Jodi is a semi-sweet, mostly-idiotic film.  Whatever you say, you can expect much much more from the director who has given a classic like DDLJ. Even though I had my reservations already, because I had seen the 2nd film by Aditya "Mohabbatein - Crap Galore" I went for it with a hope. But that hope was quashed within 40 minutes. 

You would all be knowing the storyline by now. A shy-guy marries a bubbly dame under filmy ciurcumstances. Then he tries to woo her by disguising as a roadside romeo. Now, he wants to test the girl and see who wins, him or the other him....!!!!! Absurd, yet true. 

SRK as Suri the shy-guy is cute. The few scenes in the beginning where he tries but fails to woo her wife, are extremely endearing. But as soon as his alter ego Mr.Raj arrives, the HAM show begins - that character is simply unbearable. The new girl also gets her cue from the Ham King SRK and follows suite. The  transformation of a shy-guy  to an out and out flirt is unbelievable. If it would have been a case of split personalities, I would have given this movie 7 / 10!!! Atleast that makes sense! As if that wasnt enough, the final "Mujhe Tum Main Rab Dikhta hai Finale" certainly made me puke !!! 

I certainly missed my friends, because this movie gave many opportunities to collectively hoot and ridicule. It atleast would have made the others enjoy the movie! 

One thing that I loved in the movie were the songs... Awesome... Thats what helped me increase its rating to around 4...  

Truly ,, iss SRK movie ne Sab ki Bajaa Di Thodi...

Movie Review - Quantum of Solace - JAAM !!!

Rating : 5.5 / 10

My Say - Its JAAM - Just Another Action Movie !

The much anticipated bond movie, with a smashing box office start in UK, is sadly - Just another action movie. Though there is no denying that the action is Fantastic, it falls short on the sophistication and style urf Bond quotient.

In the second installment, Daniel Craig is plain ruthless. He is more an assasin ( flaunting his License to Kill) than a secret agent. He is in pursuit of the villian who had left him bereft of the only true love of his life. And in this pursuit, he is blinded. His only aim - revenge. So throughout the movie he is casually moving from one country to another, just to kill. The ease with which he crosses borders even without money or passport is remarkable ( anyways, thats what he is trained to do !!) The plot is rather confusing and through most of the movie, you do not understand whats going on, and frankly, why?  Its like the plot is just a vehicle for delivering one action sequence after another.  You also wonder what these guys have in place of bones - titanium rods??? Unbreakable.

The only Quantum of Solace is that with this movie, the revenge of Bond is complete and now he will get back to his Stylish, Casanova ways in the next movie. Lets wait and watch, because this was frankly - JAAM.....

A Wednesday : Worth a Watch

When I say I am a movie lover, I really mean movies like this…

This is a movie about police commissioner, Anupam Kher who remembers an old case when a character played by Naseeruddin Shah held the Mumbai police at ransom.

This movie boasts of dazzling performances. Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah live up to their reputation, giving a rare treat to movie watchers. Aamir Bashir and Jimmy Shergill also excel in august company.

But what I loved about the movie was the direction and editing. Written and directed by Neeraj Pandey, the movie has an awesome pace. I also loved the portrayal of policemen, refreshing change from the masala bollywood movies

Please dont get me wrong this movie is not perfect. It has its share of clichés and gaffes. But still it’s a heart touching and thought provoking. An honest attempt of making intelligent cinema. Believe me there are parts where you actually feel happy that finally someone left the moral high ground and talks for the common Indian on the streets.

My Rating: 4/5

Death Race

Yes, I have a soft corner for death, blood, explosion and gore on the screen. I love Hollywood action movies.

Yet I can’t speak volumes about this one.

Directed by Paul Anderson, This movie is plotted in future when US is losing its shine and prisons are in private hands. To make money on internet death race is conceived and published and fueled with the right kind of people. The bet is that if a convict win this race 5 times, he can walk free.

Our hero Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) is framed for his wife’s murder to make sure that he takes places of Frankenstein, a celebrated driver who won 4 times, but died.

The concept was good and so was the action. The movie displayed, lot of metal, ammunition and speed, but not once you doubt the win of the “Good over evil”. There is so little imagination used to make the “Heroes” win and “Villains” loose, that it challenges the commonsense.

The mastermind Warden Hennessey (Joan Allen) and her reign of terror seem toothless. They are not listening at points they should be listening and keeping an eye on their pawns while they plot against them. Damn! they don’t even check the presents they get.

My Rating: 2/5

Get Smart

Movie is about an analyst , Maxwell Smart who yearns to be a field agent and when he is made one, in dearth of other field agents. He is not the best but saves the earth with his beautiful partner Agent 99.

It’s an action comedy which is not a spoof. There are more unpredictable scenes then of predictable ones and definitely plenty of reason for a heartfelt laugh. The scene where Max dance, the tree agent, the emotional conquering of bad guy, escape to Los Angeles and the final bow, all makes this cliché movie… special.

Steve Carell gives a great performance, by not attempting to do comedy at any point of time. Anne Hathaway looks gorgeous. Other characters like chief, Bruce, agent 23 make this movie a good comedy.

My Rating: 3.5/5 (I seldom laugh so hard in movie halls)

Hancock : Worth A Watch

A truly different superhero movie. shocked??? How different can be a superhero movie???.
This movie is about a Hancock; a superhero with a bad tongue, alcohol issues and an uncanny habit of irritating people. When he fights crime, government object to the expenses/damages and when he save lives, people tell him better ways to do it. A PR guys come into picture to get him a change of image and deserved respect….

Will Smith rocks and so does Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron. You will watch this movie not for action or laughs but just because it takes you so much by surprise. All batman, superman and spiderman seem forgettable in front of it.

Some people may despise the extra drama added towards the end of this otherwise fun movie…but definitely worth a watch.

My Rating:3/5

The Movie Review - Tashan - The Bhayankar formula for disaster...

Genre : Couldnt decipher...

Rating: 2.5 /10 - yes - nothing can beat AAG.... + some good music

Tashan - the style , the good luck , the bhayankar formula.... booms Anil Kapoor urf Bhaiji ... You wonder, what style? whos good luck? apna toh bad luck hai! and bhayankar formula for what? Disaster.... Thats the only explanation I could phathom. The coaching manuals of "The DONT'S of making a film - could be written from this film alone"..The movie starts in a very Tarentino'ish style and then goes on to dizzying heights of stupidity... The only thing I liked in bits was the screenplay... After watching this movie, I didnt know how to express my feelings, so instead I interviewed the man behind the story, the screenplay, the dialogues and the direction - Mr. Vijay Krishna Acharya i.e. VKA. ( This grossly multi-un-talented person is the KARTA-DHARTA of this film - any public bashings, any dressing downs, any brickbats or any abuses should be hurled and directed solely to this man and no one else)

Me: Why did you make this film? Why oh why? And are you satisfied with it?

VKA: The movie was the culmination of years of research , hard work and perseverense and I love it as much as a father loves his child...

( For the next 5 minutes, I didnt know what to say! Urgh what an ugly baby! Years of hardwork? This guy certainly needs help. He, in the meanwhile, was thinking of his next project, which hopefully would also require years and years of research. atleast 50. Please god please...)

Me: Why do you think people are comparing this movie to the disgrace of the century - AAG?

VKA: I dont mind actually ( yeah right - mind is something , u lack buddy) In a way they are comparing me to a director who has made amazing films like SATYA, SARKAR, RANGEELA.. I am honoured... ( he surely is a beautiful mind , what optimism- ignorance and dumbness surely are bliss!!!)

Me: So how did you come up with the mind numbing storyline, the inane Dialogues, the preposterous action sequences?

VKA: Oh, thanks for the compliments ( Mind Numbing, Inane and Preposterous, were too complex for his brain to decode) But, I do have to thank a lot of people for helping me out in my dream project. I actually saw it in my dream ! ( Nightmare would be more appropriate!!) Then through my research I met some people from UP and came up with the dialogues which have the bhojpuri flavour and the credit for the action sequences lies with Peter Hein ( Jis jiske haath main khujli ho rahi ho - here's another guy you could target )

Me: How did you manage to get this amazing starcast, for this ludicrous movie?

VKA: Ludi-what?? Oh thanks again, I know you mean amazing. (Phew!!) See, Kareena was doing a diet. I told her that we were low on budget, so anyways we wont supply food to our stars, that way you would be forced to starve and have that amazing body. She jumped to the opportunity. Ofcourse Saif came like a buy one get one free offer. Then I told Akshay about hiring Peter Hein and that this was his opportunity to go back to his roots - action + Kareena wasnt charging much (just wanted diet food) and Saif was just happy having same dressing room as Kareena, so I could give Akshay their share of the money aswell... Anil kapoor was the most difficult to hire.. But I told him that his name would come before Akshay Kumar , unlike Welcome... He grabbed on this opportunity with both hands, his legs and his mouth... (Suddenly, I could see some talent... A person who can pull out this coup for such a script has to be given some credit.. )

Me: What were your intentions while making this film? Does it have any message?

VKA: Intentions? ( I told him its the motive - the reason for making the film) Oh Ok... Well, see the idea was simple, but deep. I wanted to show people the condition in the states of Bihar and UP, The lack of education - hence the terrible Hinglish, the presence of gangsters , mafia here.. Most of the people are really suffering because of this. ( You surely were succefuly in making us feel their suffering dude.. We went through a lifetime of misery in your film..)

And in that answer, I thought to myself. How wrong had I been in judging this person. He had achieved exactly what he set out to achieve... I take back my words... This guy should be given an OSCAR..... A must watch for the nobility of its intentions... Torturous but effective!!!

Review - John RAMBO - Because sometimes Mayhem doesnt require a reason!

Rating: 4 / 10

Oh! so Sly is back... with his legacy John Rambo. When he came back with ROCKY, I came out of the theater satisfied. The movie had the underdog flavour to it; it retained its charm, the never say die spirit. But, this film has confused me completely.

Its like my friend said, maybe SLY got the idea of the film in the LOO and finished the script in the LOO too! It must have taken hardly 5 minutes. He must have had the sudden craving for Mayhem, massacre and slaughter. A craving to cut in 2 a person with his knife, to tear a persons throat out with his bear hands, to take a big machine gun and spill peoples guts out. And to satiate that craving would have immediately started this enterprise.

While I was watching this movie, I couldnt help but wonder if this was what RAMBO signified. Was it all about displaying intestines and massacres? Was it meant to be a medium to vent Anger, frustrations of the directors and the actors involved? Was it always just mindless and pointless action? or was it something else? Maybe Sylvester should look back at this movie and introspect.

So, coming back to the movie. Mayanmar is under some military regime, who entertains itself by killing an entire village and spilling their internal organs all over the fields. There is no reason given for this atrocity. Its unabashed violence. John stays in Vietnam and catches and sells snakes!!! A group of americans, who believes in making a difference in society and ending the massacre in myanmar, come to Rambo to give them a lift into Myanmar territory. Once he drops them there, they are captured and kept with pigs. So, our hero reluctantly comes back and saves the day, by finishing off the 100 odd men platoon who has kept the group in custody; yeah - he gets help from some mercenaries. His solution to killing so many people is quiet simple. Get on to a big truck carrying a big big gun and just blow their guts away!!! Thats that.... so simple.

Maybe it would have been better if SLY would have just let this one go. and I hope he doesnt come back with any more of such senile stuff. or maybe one day when he is 90, he might sit in the loo and get an idea of making another sequel and in that movie he might just Nuke VIETNAM or some other asian country and simply show mutilated bodies, exploding brains and bodies disintegrating. Too bad John Rambo had to end this way.

Review - "National Treasure - Book of secrets" - A Popcorn Flick

Rating: 5 /10 .

The movie as you would have seen in the box-office reports, hasnt exactly set the screen on fire. Neither has it got any critical acclaim. I realised why when I saw this movie.

Though it is complete timepass and a fast paced movie, its lost the charm of the first endevour. You get a feeling that the director is trying hard to entertain. You also get a feeling that the director thought of the end first and then worked backwards, thinking of amazing ways to make the clues un-fathomable to anyone but Nicholas Cage.

Its got all the cliche's you could possibly think of. Its got an estranged couple, coming back together to solve a mystery and you know what happens in the end. Ofcourse they kiss and make up. Then there is the damsel in distress bit. To top it theres the bumbling side kick. A few more weaknesses for the hero, like his mom and dad, make it very simple for the villian to control the strings.

So, Nicholas Cage is giving a speech when Ed Harris(humaara pyaara villian) comes and accuses Cage's great grandfather of being a traitor and one of the conspirators who killed Abraham Lincoln!! Yeah right!!! To clear his name, Cage decides to find a CITY OF GOLD, which could prove his great grandfathers innocence. Then starts a not so special ride, which has some ridiculous conspiracies and some mind boggling secrets. He even kidnaps the President of United States to get to the bottom of this mystery!! can you beat that???

Overall a timepass flick, perfect for a boring afternoon. So if you get a softcopy of this, do watch it with some home popcorn.

Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag - Ek Ganda Mazaaq, Dimaak Kharaab !

Rating - 1/10

Desecration - Thats the only word that pops up when you talk about this appaling movie. Its single most disgusting remake in the history of remakes. The remake of Don would look like a master piece once you watch this piece of crap. I think RGVarma has played the most elaborate, heavily hyped piece of joke on Indian cinema's most loved film. I dont think RGV loves the film as he claims. I think he hates its guts. I think he had a mission of taking this classic piece by piece and shredding each piece into smaller ones and then burning them. I think he took Dharam Paaji's dialogue "Chun Chun Ke Maarungaa" to heart and then violated each and every memorable scene from Sholay.

I have also taken this dialogue of Veeru as my motto, so lets begin the pillage. Where should I start? Should I tell you about how every character is converted into a caricature? Or should I tell you about the amateurish camerawork? Or should I tell you how RGV hasnt spent any money on anything(maybe he knew that after the first day, his movie wud be spat on!) Or should I tell you about the awefully picturised songs? Or should I start with the disgusting direction? Or should I tell you about the woeful locations ?Leave these aside, less talked about these aspects, the better. Coz I have some choice words to explain my mental condition at this point!

Lets talk about Gabbar - converted to Babban. What were you thinking Amitabh. By now we have established that RGV was playing this cruel joke or maybe he has gone completely whacko, but what happened to you Amitabh? How could you play this glorified idiot called Babban, who barks more than he bites. Babban is a buffoon, who keeps running after every interaction with the 2 hero's( you wonder how there cud be 100 crores spent on catching this idiot by the police). His gang is the most useless and ugly one you would ever see. Sambha turned Tambe played by Sushant Singh is converted into a bull doggish, gun wagging doggy, who has no expression.

Then Jai and Veeru are turned into Raj and Heero! Ajay devgan plays the playboy Heero and Prashant raj plays the straight faced Raj. Both these original characters have been massacared. Raj - has practicaly no role and I now know why RGV chose this new comer who cannot act and has a horrendous voice for this role! The Ajay - what were you thinking? We thot you had turned into an intelligent actor with class, but Dharam paaji would have winced at every dialogue of your character! The real culprit is director RGV. These heros arent given any background. They turn up in Mumbai and meet their weird friend, who gives them a job. They are village idiots who do not know that they r working or gangsters but when they are working with the police, they shoot AK 57's and 67's and the works with ease. Boy oh Boy, u wud cry when u see the famous scenes where Jai goes for veeru's rishta or when you see that famous suiside scene turned into mindless crap. Utter crap. Half the people are crying because they cant bare it or are laughing their guts out at the sheer stupidity.

Then comes Thakur - turned into Narasimha. Boss tell me what is a malyali inspector doing in a maharshtrian set up? whats happening here? He talks with this deadly accent, but his whole family talks spick and span Hindi. Whats this guys background? Didnt RGV pay attanetion to anything? When you see Narasimha running around red faced weilding his gun and killing people in rage, you wonder which era are you in? Have we gone back to the 80's? RGV cudnt even show cut fingers and hence gives Narasimha a kurta that has amazingly long sleeves. they look disproportionate and you know that Mohanlal's hands end much before the sleeve ends! Even a school play director would have been more innovative. You pity Mohanlal, a great actor being converted into this constipated constable oops cop!!!

Nisha Kothari as ghungroo has her moments but again she over does it. The most restrained acting is by Sushmita and her face shows that fire burning inside a widow. The other legendary characters are murdered by RGV even more brutally. Also Urmila, is potrayed in such a vulgur fashion that you wince. Aesthetics is something RGV does not care for. RGV cudnt even show a proper village or town. He had probably decided to shoot the film in 5 to 6 locations max. The whole feel of Sholay is beaten black and blue by this film. There is no sense in any scene. Its utter garbage. By this time I have used up almost all the derogatory words I cud use, but the fire (Aag) inside me isnt pacified.

RGV you have certainly given a big jolt to all fim lovers and I think RGV has completely lost it. I dont know how would people ever forgive RGV for this, he has probably nailed his own coffin. Ramesh Sippy must be rolling in his grave with rage! If you wanna see how you butcher a classic, go ahead, make RGV's day and watch this Ganda Mazaaq...

Transformers

Rating: 2.5/5

This movie is about good aliens coming to earth to save it from the bad aliens. The movie boasts of some awesome visuals (sadly it is more to do with American choppers and aircrafts rather then the robots), some great comedy with Sam Witwicky (Shia Labeouf) and a very good looking Capt. William Lennox (Josh Duhamel).
But it fall slow in pace, with not very many things happening and the scene of cars morphing into robots and back becomes boring very soon as you wonder that the car only if beaten into one dimensional plate will make such a huge robot.
Even with Steven Spielberg being one of the executive producers the movie somewhere lacks in execution.
P.S. As they provide characterization/emotions to the robots, you think about movie ‘Cash’ where even the human actors was denied the same :)

Kafila- The Final Survivors

Overall Rating 4/10

Kafila is the movie based on real life story of Malta Boat Tragedy, few years back.

In between the exams i went to see it , as i wanted the break. I knew the movie is not that good, but still went for it with least expectations. I went for it, cause I am Punjabi and for a punjabi its very tough to resist Sunny Deol's movie.

The movie had all the larger than life figure of Sunny. But there were some good things I didn't expect from it. The good things were actual shooting in Afganisthan and erstwhile USSR. Then there was realistic portrayal of giant sea wave. And above all the over portrayal of skin of hot Russian babes.

The story line is good till second last phase of movie, with the theme in this world of greed ' Expect Unexpected!!'.

Also it shows national integeration spirit and also that Pakistani's and Bangaldeshi's also share emotions like us.

The movie tried to portray that the good relations are possible between India & Pakistan, only thing required is true will.

Above all it gave a beautiful message, that ' Home is ultimately Home' and its landing oneselves into cruel and brutal circumstances by embracing illegal means of immigration.

I am just wondering, why it took so many years for such a movie to come out. Had it come out earlier, it might have saved many Indians from undergoing the grind of illegal immigration.

At last, seeing the movies like Kabul Express, Krish and Kafila, I feel happy that Bollywood is at least trying to come out with better graphics and true depiction of real life stories.

All style, no content!

Style is a way of narration. But funny how many movies are made with only style and no content? This movie kills you as you get confused between so many actors with none of them having a characterization, all of them come to the screen only to look cool, confident and chic; but floundering at reasonability.

For example Sunil Shetty (after tying a blindfold over his glares), Shamita Shetty (to have breakfast), Esha Deol (at the drop of a hat), Ritesh (to run away from cops), and Zayed khan(for roof(car)top shooting) all seem to be running amok on the roads, behind the wheels. Most of the situations do not signify anything in the movie except that the action director had a fetish for cars and that director solemnly believed that you can’t be cool without cars.

Many parallel threads run through the movie, scenes of these threads alternate with the purpose to intrigue you and keep you glued to the seat. But they end up irritating you as the sequence of the scenes gives a feeling of discontinuity.

The animation and reality superimposition is a beautiful concept even though it is not original. But it is used too often in the movie and when used between the action sequences, it makes the already chalky action sequences, a little more unfathomable.

This movie should be included in the curriculum of film institute as to how a good director, bunch of reasonably good actors, big budget, foreign location, cool cars can all go wrong, if you miss that little something called a story. :)

--Priti Sankhla

CASH-THE ENIMATED UN!!!

Rating 2/5

The movie is having gud story line and action. But only thing missing is integration. I think that’s wat is know as direction.

In the first half, I was not able to comprehend whether its movie or MTV bakra. But to the later half it became interesting.

Today it shattered many of myths created in my mind over long period of time

• Rajnikant is God of Indian Action
• If Rajnikant shattered the Newtonian theory of mechanics, then I must say this one shattered the Einsteinian theories of Relativity
• Parliament Session is the best comedy show

Well, the director tried to put in lot of difference by using animations, but I think it became enimations.

The girls were hot, but couldn’t get enough attention to show the heat in them

In between, I saw A R Rehman in the movie in Subhash Ghai’s style. And according to me the best milage went to the new face, who acted as manager of yard in the movie.

In total movie is pure time pass, and good for the time when u don’t have any other thing left on earth to do.