My Take On

Movies to watch out for 2010

vaarun24 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:42:28 +0000

A list of movies to look forward to in the coming year

Ishqiya: Abhishek Chaubey makes his debut with Naseerudin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan, and going by the trailers this one is going to be awesome
Rann: RGVs next
Chance Pe Dance: Ken Ghosh is back with Shahid Kapoor and Genelia D’souza
Delhi Belly: Produced by Aamir Khan
Dhobi Ghat (tentative title) – Kiran Rao makes her directorial debut
My Name is Khan: Karan Johars Next
Athiti Tum Kab Jaaoge: a comedy with Paresh Rawal, Ajay Devgan and Konkona Sen Sharma
Karthik Calling Karthik: Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone together
Road Movie: Dev Benegals next starring Abhay Deol
Teen Patti: Amitabh Bachchan and Sir Ben Kingsley together
Kites: The buzz for this one is kinda gone now but nevertheless should be a decent watch
Well done Abba: Shyam Benegals Next
Paan Singh Tomar: Tigmanshu Dhullia directs this one starring Irrfan Khan and Mahi Gill
Red Alert the War Within: A movie based on naxalism
Peter Gaya Kaam Se: Rajeev Khandelwals next after the brilliant Aamir
Allah Ke Bandhe:
Rajneeti: Prakash Jha directs a political drama
Harishchandrachi Factory: India’s entry for the academy awards
Kanchivaram: National Award winner directed by Priyadarshan
Raavan: Mani Ratnams next with Abhishek Bachchan

P.S. Will add more movies as and when the release dates are confirmed

Best of 2009

vaarun24 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:28:09 +0000

Well since everyone is doing the best of 2009 movies list so i thought to do mine as well

Here are the best of 2009 in order of release:

Luck By Chance: a brilliant movie with awesome performances by everyone.
Dev D: a modern day devdas, Anurag Kashyap does a brilliant job and Amit Trivedi easily gives the best music for the year.
Gulaal: Anurag Kashyap weaves a shakespearean tale based in a fictional Rajasthani town with some outstanding performances definitely the best story of the year.
Little Zizou: a nice comedy centering around the Parsi Community with brilliant performances.
Firaaq: Nandita Das brings out the turmoil of the gujarat riots brilliantly in this one.
99: an awesome comedy.
Kaminey: easily the best performance of the year Shahid Kapoor as Charlie and Guddu does tremendously well.
Wanted: it delivered exactly what it promised Salman Khan doing action after a longtime.
Wake Up Sid: Ranbir delivers one of his best performances and Konkona as usual does well a good debut by Ayaan Mukerji.
Paa: the Big B shines in this one, though the movie could’ve done without the whole politician act by Abhishek, Vidya Balan steals the show for me in this one.
Rocket Singh Salesman of the Year: Shimit Amin and Jaideep Sahni do a tremendous job in creating characters that stick with you till long after the movie ends. Brilliant performances by Ranbir, Gauhar and the rest of the principle cast.
3 idiots: Raju Hirani proves that he can do more than just the Munnabhai series, outstanding performances by the whole cast.

Now I’m going to list the best characters of 2009:

Romy Rolly (Luck By Chance) beautifully portrayed by Rishi Kapoor
Chunnilal (Dev D) a pimped out Chunnilal loved Dibyendu Bhattacharyas portrayal especially his introduction to Dev
Ali (Delhi 6) an awesome character was disappointed Rakesh Mehra didn’t use him more, again outstanding portrayal by Rishi Kapoor
Veer Singh (Love Aaj Kal) a very lovable character done brilliantly by Saif Ali Khan and Rishi Kapoor
Charlie (Kaminey) Main f ko f bolta hoon, Shahid Kapoor was just brilliant
Bhope Bhau (Kaminey) Amol Gupte does it so well
Mikhail (Kaminey) Chandan Roy Sanyal as the doped out Mikhail was outstanding especially the showdown between Bhope Bhau and Mikhail the best scene of the year
Tashi (Kaminey) Tenzing Nima just brilliant, plays it really cool
Sweety Bhope (Kaminey) Priyanka Chopra does brilliantly as a Maharashtrian girl.
AGM (99) and Inspector Talpade (Wanted) Mahesh Manjrekar is outstanding in both roles
Gani Bhai (Wanted) Prakash Raj was hilarious as the don in this one
Veer Pratap Singh (Dil Bole Hadippa) the only good thing about this movie was Rani Mukerji as the young sardar
Raghu (All the Best) Sanjay Mishra imitating pran was hilarious
Auro (Paa) Amitabh Bachchan as a 13 yr old and he delivers yet again
Chatur Ramalingam (3 idiots) Omi Vaidya plays this character brilliantly especially the teachers day speech just brilliant.

The Best Music:

Dev D: Amit Trivedi composes one of the best soundtracks of the decade. Emotional Attyachar, Pardesi, Saali Khushi, Dhol Yaara Dhol, Payaliya all are outstanding.
Delhi 6: AR Rahman does it again with Arziyan, Rehna Tu, Masakali and Dil Gira Kahin Dafatan outstanding
Love Aaj Kal: Pritam does pretty well with this one Twist, Yeh Dooriyan, Aahun Aahun, Chor Bazaari and Aaj Din Chadiya
Kaminey: Vishal Bharadwaj lends his voice to one of the best songs of the movie Kaminey, Pehil Baar Mohabbat, Dhan Te Nan and Raat Ke Dhai Baje
Wake Up Sid: Loved only one song Iktara and it’s Amit Trivedi doing wonders once again
3 idiots: Give Me Some Sunshine, Behti Hawa, Aal Izz Well and Zoobi Doobi are brilliant Shantanu Moitra does well.

Why is Chetan Bhagat crying so much??

vaarun24 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 09:35:55 +0000

Ok now I loved five point someone and absolutely loved 3 idiots as well, but the thing I can’t understand is that why is Chetan Bhagat (CB) crying so much. He keeps saying he had no clue in the scripting stage so then why does he want credit for it. Didn’t he sell the book rights to them so then legally all Vinod Chopra Films has to do is put based on FPS in the credits which they did but i guess it hurt CBs ego that they didn’t put it in the opening credits. He wasn’t involved in the story or screenplay so asking for his name there just seems wrong. I mean would shakespeare or jane austen want their names in the credits of the story and screenplay of the millions of movies that are made on their works.

According to CB they’ve taken 70% of his book but then they have changed the remaining 30%. I mean people have made devdas so many times in this country and kept 90% intact but sarat chandra doesn’t get story and screenplay credit for it. I think it’s just that CBs ego has been hurt cause they didn’t involve him in the story or screenplay process and also put his name in the end credits.

Stop crying and grow up.

Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani

vaarun24 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:36:36 +0000

From the director that gave us Ghayal, Damini, Ghatak , Andaz Apna Apna, Pukar, Khakee and the Legend of Bhagat Singh comes one of the worst movies of the year called Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani. It seems that Rajkumar Santoshi has lost the plot, such mindless dribble from a director of his stature is appalling.

The gags have been done to death and our not funny anymore, even kids didn’t laugh at the cycle flying into the lake. The end of the movie seems inspired by Andaz Apna Apna but unfortunately he cannot recreate that magic. The story has nothing new to offer, there are 3 scenes that I found funny

The scene with Salman Khan
The scene where Ranbir tells his dad i like you
The scene where Ranbirs mom tries seducing the father so that he doesn’t walk into Katrina taking a shower

The rest of it not so good and very unfunny. The performances Katrina as usual looks good but still cannot act, the supporting cast is not upto the mark even Govind Namdeo doesn’t know what he’s doing. Now why why why why would anyone hire Upen Patel or as a friend termed him U’pain’ Patel that man has no screen presence, no acting skills, has an ass on his chin, thank god they dubbed his voice cause I’m pretty sure even the british don’t understand a word he says. The only saving grace the music with some decent songs and Ranbir Kapoor, he’s turning into a pretty good actor and should be perfect for all the SRK roles.

Verdict : watch if you have absolutely nothing to do

Dev D

vaarun24 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:01:31 +0000

One of the best adaptations of the Saratchandra Chatterjee novel, Anurag Kashyap takes devdas and sets it in modern day punjab.

With an outstanding performance by Abhay Deol , Mahi Gill and Kalki as Devdas, Paro and Chanda respectively but the scene stealer is Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Chunni the pimp outstanding . The music by Amit Trivedi is brilliant and the soundtrack of the year. Visually as well the movie is great just love this new age of indian cinema. Anurag Kashyap has become one of my favourite directors after this one and then saw his other movies Black Friday, No Smoking and Gulaal all brilliant. Waiting to watch his first movie Paanch though hopefully someone will release it.

Verdict: buy the dvd and watch it

Kaminey

vaarun24 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:16:15 +0000

Vishal Bharadwaj is back after the brilliant Omkara, with a heist flick. A brilliantly directed movie with awesome characters that are brought to life by some outstanding performances.

Shahid Kapoor pulls off playing both the brothers and deserves every award there is for that performance, Priyanka Chopra is brilliant in her role, the scene stealers though are Amol Gupte as Bhope Bhau is just outstanding , Chandan Roy Sanyal as Mikhail is another actor to watch out for, both these characters are part of one of the best scenes in the movie the showdown of Mikhail and Bhope Bhau is just brilliantly performed.

Another character worth mentioning is Tashi played by Tenzing Nima, the scene where he and his goons get to bhope bhaus home is hilarious. Hrishikesh Joshi as Lele is also outstanding the interrogation scene with lele and guddu is awesome. The music of the movie is also outstanding.

Verdict: a brilliant movie waiting for Vishal Bharadwajs next

All the Best

vaarun24 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:57:53 +0000

Another nonsensical comedy from Rohit Shetty, have no idea why filmmakers are still using such outdated gags like man running on broken treadmill and putting ketchup on asrani?? no one laughed in the whole theatre. The first 20 minutes of the movie are a waste of time and then something brilliant happens Sanjay Dutt makes his entry after that its a hilarious ride all the way to the end.

The chemistry between Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgan is brilliant but the scene stealer is Sanjay Mishra with his pran imitation and just chills. Johnny Lever is awesome after a long time one gets to see him back, Bipasha hardly has a role, Fardeen is alright and Mugdha Godse proves she can’t act to save her life .

Whats this obsession Rohit Shetty has with car races every movie of his has to have a token car race??

Verdict: go 20 minutes late and enjoy the nonsense much better than golmaal returns

Kurbaan- some love stories have blood on them

vaarun24 — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:21:37 +0000

Just got back from watching another lame attempt by bollywood to capture terrorism and sleeper cells. Kurbaan was neither a love story nor a movie about moderate islam. The movie is filled with plot holes that a 2 year old could’ve fixed. This is another attempt by dharma productions to move away from its usual candy floss love stories.

Honestly they should stick to what they know and keep churning out those NRI romances rather than torturing us with such crap. After watching the movie I have a lot of questions in my mind lets see if you guys had the same questions or if someone can give me the answers

How many times do you actually see kareena going to the university and teaching???
When kareena finds out that her neighbours are terrorists and once the sleeper cell has been compromised why don’t they just kill her?? Normally any terrorist cell would’ve killed not only her but even saif if he tried to stop them cause for them their mission cannot be compromised.
They conveniently forget to remove her cell phone, and kareena who is supposedly an american citizen doesn’t even have the brains to call 911 instead of trying to warn dia mirza there’s a bomb in the plane. It’s like she just wants to save dia mirza and not the other 100 or so people on the plane. So finding the cellphone switched off she calls dias office but to no avail and leaves her a message on the answering machine (hmmm genius).
Now Vivek oberoi hears the message on the answering machine and decided that it’s time he gets into this to bring the terrorists to justice. The worst reasoning ever he tells his editor i have a lead and the editor tells him to inform the FBI but viveks reply to this is no cause then the lead might go away which does not make any sense. In fact had he told the FBI the movie would’ve gotten over much quick and we all could’ve gotten home on time and slept. So vivek a cameraman takes it upon himself to infiltrate the terrorists.
When Salmas body starts stinking the group decides to bury her otherwise the neighbours would come to know whats going on…seriously aren’t all the neighbours already there in the basement with them. Nevertheless i thought they would bury the body in the backyard but no lets put her body into the trunk and go for a drive. And then they run into the cops when Hakeel loses it and shoots one of them and then there’s a chase scene with saif getting shot but he manages to kill the cops and blow up the car so as not to leave any evidence behind. But this is shocking cause there’s some evidence left behind Salmas face is only half burnt (what are we 2??) so the FBI can recreate the full face but it will take 4-5 days.
The airport sequence with Vivek and Saif, how did vivek know saif can speak hindi, what if saif was an Arab, wouldn’t this raise suspicion in Saifs mind. Secondly vivek gives his real name to the terrorists, a simple search on google and you would know that vivek works for a news channel so much for terrorist sleeper cells being extra careful about who they let in
What was the point of calling the FBI head to the church?? And why was that agent trying to disarm a bomb when the timer showed 10 seconds he should’ve left it and run but no. And of course the FBI head doesn’t die or get badly injured in a blast that brings down half the train station
When you are using someone as a human shield why would you show yourself to the person trying to kill you, wouldn’t you make sure that the person shooting at you doesn’t have a clear shot by hiding behind the human shield. Alas Om Puri forgot to train his own wife , kiron kher should’ve been standing behind kareena not beside her
Now this one i still can’t understand how did kareena know that ehsaan is not the real name, there is no mention of it anywhere so why does she assume he’s fake named her??
A sleeper cells job is to mingle with the local population so as to avoid detection, not live in a muslim neighbourhood where i guess one would already be on the FBI watchlist
The FBI is shown as a very incompetent branch which is laughable.

Lets talk performances Kareena has acted pretty well, Saif looks a bit confused sometimes, Viveks fake accent is too distracting, Om Puri hardly has scope to perform, Kiron Kher is decent.

Direction is decent, the story and screenplay are really poor they should’ve shown more of the love story cause one doesn’t really feel that the protagonists are in love.

Verdict: Stay home and watch the dvd of Sleeper Cell