FilmyReviews

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu is a delightful film that keeps getting better along the way, and ends fabulously. Clocking under two hours, the film is a breezy watch that will leave you with a smile. Highly recommended.

Devoid of fluff, the hyperbole toned down, and shorter, Agneepath would have been a far superior film. In its present form, it packs in enough punch to warrant a viewing. How much you enjoy it, though, will be directly proportionate to how much melodrama you can withstand. Old school Hindi film lovers, however, are in for a treat.

This is B-movie paradise. The writing is juvenile, the dialogues a joke, the acting over-the-top, yet everyone seems to be taking themselves so seriously, you can't help but see the funny side to it. Abbas Mustan ensure Players to be a laugh-riot, a comedy the writers of The Italian Job could have never imagined possible. Welcome to Bollywood, folks. And a Happy New Year.

Sadly, with a director who showed much promise with his first film, Don 2 should have been more than just another big-ticket Friday film that rests solely on the shoulders of its lead actor. What keeps Don 2 alive, then, is its pulsating action. It helps the pace quicken as the film progresses, including a thrilling chase sequence and a wonderfully choreographed-and-shot pre-climax sequence. Watch Don 2 for some kick-ass action. And Shah Rukh Khan.

With a highly entertaining first half, and a mediocre second, The Dirty Picture falls short of being truly remarkable. But for that ‘boombaat’ of a performer, Vidya Balan (one star solely for her), and entertaining dialogue, the film is worth the ticket price. Watch The Dirty Picture for the gutsiest, most versatile actor we have today.

Given all this, you approach Desi Boyz with a sense of trepidation. However, things aren’t as bad as they seem. The Dhawan boy impresses with his hold over the craft, with slickness and style, and Kumar and Abraham play off each others' personalities well to make a lovable jodi. At the onset, you are impressed with Dhawan’s making -- the film looks fresh, and more in the Karan Johar Dostana mould than a regular haphazardly put together comedy. The basic plot - two out-of-job guys becoming male escorts -- has potential, and the casting seems apt. If your expectations are low, you may not be disappointed with Desi Boyz. To be fair, it’s Akshay Kumar’s best film in quite a few years.

Even in Rockstar, Imtiaz’s penchant for writing comes through -- the detailing is spot-on, the dialogue conversational and witty, the storytelling unhurried. Imtiaz the director doesn’t do too badly either. Rockstar is probably his most polished film, and he benefits from the association with cinematographer Anil Mehta and editor Aarti Bajaj. And he benefits from having a livewire of a lead actor on board. Ranbir Kapoor has been Hindi cinema’s next big thing for a while now. With Rockstar, he lives up to the hopes pinned on him to deliver big.

Ra.One carries the burden of being Hindi cinema’s costliest film, and stars one of our biggest superstars. The film has almost everything going for it: The SFX is up-to-mark, the concept interesting, the scale mammoth. But blame it on Anubhav Sinha, the director with slick-but-hollow films Dus and Cash on his CV (one worked at the box office, the other bombed). RaOne is no different; it is beautiful in appearance, but empty within. Which is a pity. Anubhav could have really made a mark with this one.

In Mod, Kukunoor shows glimpses of the astute storyteller he can be, keeping you fairly engaged even with his no-frills storytelling technique. But somewhere the story (originating from the Taiwanese film, Keeping Watch) itself is found wanting. Mod doesn’t work in totality, but has its moments. What it does, really, is remind you of the fact that Kukunoor is a filmmaker you can't ignore. Shunning technical flamboyance, he continues to tell stories in the more conventional mould, some which work, some which don't. You can expect him to stun you in the future.

What makes Force really tick is Kamat’s refreshing treatment of a formulaic action drama -- it’s like watching a ’90s Sunny Deol film, only with better screenplay and technique. If hardcore action is your thing, give Force a shot. It lands quite the solid punch.

But Mausam, beautiful as it is in parts, just doesn't work in totality. The story is stretched beyond belief - not to mention it's hard to digest after a point - and unnecessary scenes only add to the misery. It's nothing that couldn’t be fixed at the editing table (Sreekar Prasad), but Mausam's follies lie in Kapur's script itself. The old-world charm of Mausam is likeable, but doesn't salvage it. In the end, the only thing epic about the film is its unwarranted length.

Jha seems to be at a confused juncture as a filmmaker. His intentions seem noble; he continues to take up socio-political issues in the mainstream more often than most filmmakers, but he seems to want to please everyone now. He achieved tremendous commercial success with Raajneeti, and Jha doesn’t seem to want to let go of that -- a clear case of not practising what you preach. Should you watch Aarakshan? In keeping with the spirit of the film, I’d say go for Bachchan. But stay away for everything else. Yes, I am sitting on the fence too.

I don’t know if Dhobi Ghat is ‘arthouse’ or ‘non-mainstream’ or ‘world’ cinema. What I can tell you is this – it’s a damn good movie. Kiran Rao makes an assured debut as filmmaker and narrates a sensitive story bereft of hyperbole and drama. The plot isn’t of prime importance, the characters are. And Rao fleshes each of them out with astute understanding and makes them come alive in a way that you’re drawn to them, slowly but surely. Watch Dhobi Ghat without expectations, or preconceived notions. Let the film take over for an hour and a half of your life. Debutant director Kiran Rao’s done a pretty good job of it.

YPD is not a film meant to be taken seriously. If anything, it spoofs everything the three actors have made a living out of, and while it seems slightly self-indulgent at times, what really bothers you is that it fails to connect consistently. Apart from an earnest performance by Sunny Deol and some really hilarious scenes in the second half, Yamla Pagla Deewana is a tiresome watch. Watch only if you are a die-hard Deol fan.

It’s not surprising that No Problem is so bad you want to curl up in your seat and cry. It’s surprising that it got made at all. Anees Bazmee, the film’s writer and director (easily the biggest culprit), is not exactly known for making anything other than mindless comedies, but the mindlessness only adds to the painfulness in this film.