Reviews by India Times
The narrative often seems lost between two extremes and opts for a middle-of-the-road settlement. Like despite its wacky sense of filmy humour, the movie gets unnecessarily melodramatic at times. Housefull 2 is neither fully gratifying nor a house-of-horror like its prequel (or its equivalents).
The film starts with an interesting prologue in Afghanistan and ends with a witty epilogue in London. How we wish the globetrotting in between was as much compelling. The film is entertaining but not in entirety. Agent Vinod gets the nod though not whole-heartedly!
What puts Agneepath a notch above the recent mindless actioners is that it has a basic human connect which it reasonably balances with the extreme action and never blatantly exploits any emotion. Karan Malhotra succeeds in extracting inspiring performances from the impressive cast. With Bollywood being obsessed with remakes in recent times, Agneepath is an important lesson on how to pay proper tribute to the original. Agneepath has the fire for a lustrous entertainer!
The director-duo have almost run out of their standard set of shock tactics and are falling prey to their own brand, making the suspense flick, more or less, predictable. What ensues is the ordinary one-upmanship between two male rivals, a theme that has already been exploited by the directors to the point of diminishing returns in Ajnabee, Humraaz, Naqaab and Race. Another major reason why Players fails to impress is thanks to the mediocre performances by its entire cast. They say 'let the best player win'. Sadly nobody qualifies to be even 'good' here. Game over!
One wonders why the film needlessly treads into Zoya Akhtar's Luck By Chance zone. What was the central plot after all? The murky side of movie world? Despair in city of dreams? What point did the film attempt to make after wandering off into so many offshoots, when we were always under the impression that it was a minimal tale of mismatched romance? But it's difficult to accept this partially engaging film, unconditionally! On that note this pappu doesn't pass muster. Alas pappu fail ho gaya!
While director Pawan Gill doesn't impress much in terms of storytelling, he ensures that the film is a technically sound product and extracts notable performances from the cast. The film is tailor-made as a launch pad for Sunny Gill and he makes a confident debut. But largely, Jo Hum Chahein certainly doesn't have what we wish from a film - entertainment!
The film doesn't surprise us in any way, but it does enthuse you with its energy. Anushka and Ranveer have a good bantering relationship, even if it seems awfully reminiscent of Band Baaja Baraat. Even some lines seem familiar-your brains and my daring, and we can have a great business, says Ranveer. But I do wish Ranveer and Anushka would stop smiling at each other so much.
Rohit Dhawan's storytelling is simple and swift and the comedy never takes the no-brainer route with adequate conviction in the writing. He smoothly establishes the comic chemistry between Akshay and John and never lets anyone overshadow the other, thanks to their reasonably written roles. Renuka Kunzru's dialogues, ranging from the witty to the wacky variety, are a major highlight and pack the requisite comic punches with some much-needed freshness over the customary synchronized lines in most recent comedies.
Loot lives up to its name. The film is a frame-by-frame rip-off of the Hollywood flick Crime Spree (2003) with not a single scene added or subtracted from its screenplay. Yet it doesn't offer the zillionth fraction of entertainment value that the original crime-comedy did. Loot robs you off some potential entertaining moments!
The film does have a lighthearted mood throughout but one does feel that its sense of humour, though not bad, could have been more fine-tuned and sharp. While this brand of comedy is anytime better than a senseless slapstick, there is a feeling that the film could have been funnier. At the same time while the director tries to keep things subtle and avoid melodrama, some situations lack the basic intensity that the drama demands Neither utterly lovely nor breakthrough! Love Breakups Zindagi is that variety of predictable cinema that is passable.
The screenplay fails to tap the little potential that the story offers (esp. in the second half) pretty much like the film fails to exploit the talent of Ali Zafar. The writing is shallow and resorts to a convenient climax. The continual spoof on Shah Rukh Khan's My Name is Khan act is neither amusing nor caustic. Mere Brother ki Dulhan is relatively old and familiar entertainment.
The story isn't much innovative but at least it stays true to its theme. Regardless of the title, theme or Salman's biceps, Bodyguard is more of a love story than an action film. It remains lighthearted for its major runtime until when the villains suddenly surface in the climax. Unlike the Tamil or Malayalam versions, there isn't much buildup or back-story about the baddies in the Hindi Bodyguard and Salman makes mandatory mincemeat of them in a single action sequence. Bodyguard doesn't catch you off guard. But it's a decent entertainer nonetheless.
The writing by Rohit Banawlikar doesn't explore the Neeraj Grover killing beyond what's common knowledge. In fact it opts for fiction at several instances through and after the crime to suit itself. The shallowness in story is compensated with long-drawn-out scenes, which only add to monotony rather than having any effect. Other than the baffling cinematography, RGV's fixation for volatile sound effects and loud background score, at times, seem too pretentious. Not A Love Story is certainly not a bad story. But it doesn't boast of great storytelling either. At the end, you remain indifferent towards the partners in crime!
Chatur Singh Two Star is a classic demonstration of how not to make an action comedy. The script is completely harebrained, the acting is outrageously bad, the dialogue utterly inane, and the ‘comic’ gags are, to say the least, so awfully brainless that they might raise some laughs for all the wrong reasons. This is a film that proffers madness without the slightest semblance of method. It’s just as well that there are two stars in its title. It doesn’t deserve any.
Sahi Dhande Galat Bande , like its title, has its heart at the sahi place but the execution, though certainly not galat , could have been much more gripping and entertaining. Although the film ideally comes across as a comedy, it lacks the requisite dose of humour, despite having the potential. With languid dialogues and some flaccid scenes, the writing leaves a lot to be desired. The screenplay does boast of some sporadic sparkling moments like when the quartet negotiate with a victim for cutting off his limb or when their hostage escapes. Also, the gang's face-off with a rival gang results into amusing outcome. But beyond that the film could have been much funnier, faster and crisper.