Welcome to Next Level of Cinema

Almost everyone in this world has gone to watch "Avatar" with some pre-conceived notions of how this movie would be. Now, who gets satisfied to what extent on the storyline of the movie is a debatable topic, but as far as the cinematic experience is concerned, all would be having no words to appreciate it. James Cameroon took around half a decade to finish this movie, an idea which came to his mind around 15 years ago. He waited until found the right kind of technology to shoot his dream project. And the result, 'awesome'.

He has set a new benchmark in technical excellence which is the 3D technology he has used, the sound experience and the overall visual effects extravaganza. These all are a treat to your eyes. This movie is more of an experience than anything else. So stop exploring any stories inside it. James intends the audience to see it in 3D, the way wanted them all to see it. So if you are planning to watch "Avatar", then watch it only in 3D, if you are going for an IMax experience, it's even better. I may not agree with few critics that this movie is probably the best of the decade, but certainly the history will remember it for the technical superiority and the cinematic experience it offers to its audience. After watching this movie, you will be compelled to think how stupid 2D looks on screen and how real 3D is and you will wish to see all the movies in future in this format. And it won't be long that this wish of ours will come true.

"Avatar" is an experience in all its aspects and it delivers as expected. Watch it 'only' in 3D to understand the genius James' creativity and his intention of making such a movie. Treat yourself with this flick in this holiday season and go to a different world, at least for 15o minutes.

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5

3 Cheers for Raju's 3 Idiots...

The director who created Munnabhai, has delivered his third baby 6 days before the current decade comes to an end. He has been a great find as a director in this decade. And the verdict, he has ended as a winner and the audience is now having sky-high expectations from him from now onwards in the coming decade. No point in comparing his "3 Idiots" with the Munnbhai series as it won't yield any concrete result. This movie is completely different in all its aspects and comes with a more realistic and relevant theme/message than Munnabhai, yet it has all the ingredients to appeal even the tier-E cities of India. So the box office will be on fire and the producers, distributors, theatre-owners will be singing all the way to their bank accounts. At the end of it all, a normal movie-goer who paid more than ever before to watch this movie due to a hike in cost of the tickets won't feel like being treated as a 4th idiot.

It may not be the greatest work of both Raju Hirani nor Amir Khan, but it's a movie that's going to be added in their list of hits. Many of the critics felt that this flick is not as good as the Munnabhai series, but for me it has got its heart at the right place and strikes the right chord for today's parents and youth. Especially when you think of a year badly hit by multiplex strike, string pathetic movies and uncountable flops, such movies make a great end to such an unlucky year for Indian cinema. In this review(let me call few such write-ups as 'reviews', plz) I won't be talking to about any technical details. As the movie asks you not to, just say...all is well. The ensemble cast puts a good show apart from the usual Kareena from whom I don't even expect anything in terms of acting. She lives up to my expectation! Only thing where I felt bad is the credits at the start where Kareena's came ahead of Madhavan & Sarman which is a complete injustice to these two actors and Kareena would even admit it. Raju could have easily cut down on the romantic song between Amir & Kareena which was unnecessary and a big waste of time and few filmy scenes. But again, as I said, in India you can grab tier-E audiences with all these formula and Raju/Amir executes all possible formula in this film.

I would like to overlook the all the small loopholes/filmy-things and would suggest you to catch the heart of the movie and think for a moment what you are doing with your life. Don't just say all is well as the movie/Amir asks you to....question everything...that's the larger perspective "3 Idiots" has taught me... Go for it...

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5

Ranbir's Rocket Flying High...

When you go to the theatre to watch a movie that has been written by a person who has earlier wrote scripts like Khosla Ka Ghosla & Chak De India, your expectations will be high. Shimit Amin has so far been able to shred the typical bollywood melodrama starting Ab Tak Chhappan to Chak De. Rocket Singh is a completely different take on what we have seen so far in terms of issues related to the current urban youth and trends. ‘Sales’ is something that MBAs or atleast graduates can understand. But when we dissect sales, it only becomes the cup of coffee of MBAs. So, here Shimit goes slightly wrong. Rocket Singh is a nice, sweet and a movie on a good theme and heart, but lacks the mass appeal like Chak De.

The ensemble cast has been kept low profile, but exudes quite an amount of spunk on screen. But at the end, it’s Ranbir who has taken the burden of the entire acting department on his shoulder. His simplicity and tension-free-ho-jayega attitude works to great effect. The movie is 150+ minutes without a song and requires patience from the audience till it ends. The best thing is you will remember the essence of the movie as it is so based on our daily life. That’s the beauty of Jaideep. One scene where there is a small office party of the sales team where Ranbir works and the office was giving the alcohol free; you can see few them drinking a not-so-good-tasting whiskey with water! That’s hilarious yet so real. All of did that atleast once in our life.

Cinematography is above average but editing has been good. Screenplay is good but needed to more crisp in the story-telling part in the second half. What a year it has been for Ranbir! This boy is yet to deliver a flop after Saawariya. I would rate Wake Up Sid as Ranbir’s best flick this year, but this one’s a movie about breaking new grounds in Hindi film industry. Keep up the good work Shimit & Jaideep. We need more guys like you to take our movies to the next level.

Verdict: 3 out of 5

Time To Love Your Parents... Again

When you live in a country when you have grown up watching uncountable movies where being clichéd in every department of film making is considered as a normal thing, people like Balki are like saviors. They come up with fresh ideas, fresh scripts, fresh screenplay, fresh dialogues and more importantly they understand today’s taste. Be it “Cheeni Kam” or now for that matter “Paa”.

To start with “Paa” does not have a full fledged script in place; it just has a theme upon which Balki has made this 130 min flick. What makes this movie watchable is the acting the characters have put up. To be precise it’s Amitabh Bachchan and to some extent Vidya Balan who has done some fabulous acting. Abhishek looked crisp, but he did not have anything in his script to portray. Paresh is wasted for nothing. The movie revolves around Auro played by Big B and his relationship with his parents played by AB & VB (nice acronyms huh!). But for some unknown reasons Balki has dragged the issue of the role of media in today’s time and politics. These issues have literally nothing to do with the movie. They could easily cut down 30 minutes on the length had they not added this useless stuffs. The dialogues are sharp, sleek & witty, the typical Balki style. There is no melodrama and nobody behaves insane. Humor has been presented in many ways and it strikes to today’s audience. The movie is quite sound in almost all technical departments. Illayaraja’s music is hummable, though it’s not going to stay with them for long. Few emotional sequences could have been handled better as Balki has garnished humor pre and post all the emotional scenes.

If you want to see a good cinema, go to watch “Paa” with your entire family. It’s worth having a watch for all. It has pushed the envelope of Indian cinema further with its contemporary presentation. In anticipation for some more quality products from Mr. Balki.

Verdict: 3 out of 5

Back on Blog !!!

After a long enough hibernation, I have decided that anyhow i have to keep this blog alive just like my main blog. Because, I can not give the excuse of being busy.

Sorry folks, but wait for all December stuffs and more.

Why Mislead The Viewers???

It summarises Kurbaan, terrorism and beyond.

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/117/20091127200911270204142967762d898/I-am-a-terrorist-love-me.html

Some Cute Confessions...

I feeling real bad as I missed "Firaaq". Though I plan to watch it this weekend. Wait Nandita, just for 2 more days. 

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Like shopping? So much? Hmm... then you gotta watch this one. It's a movie that you watch, enjoy your popcorn (yes, u need it) and come out thinking what you gonna buy tomorrow. I don't know what to say or how to analyse as there not much apart from a sweet movie. The theme depicts how a lady who is a hardcore shopaholic goes on to understand how shopping is not just the end of the world. And the sweet and romantic moments that takes her through. I mean apart from the leading lady who plays the central character nobody else is there whom you can notice for their performance. If you liked "Little Manhattan", "A Good Year" etc then go watch it. But please do not opt for gold class, it may not worth it.

Verdict: 2 out of 5

Anurag Does It, One More Time!!!

Guys, I have seen 13 B last week but the movie was so horrible that prevented me to  write even one line on it. Still I would give it 1 out of 5, and the 1 is only coz of Madhavan's honest act.

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Welcome to the world of Anurag Kashyap. I liked Black Friday, though in bits & pieces, for it's sheer honest approach. After that everybody forgot No Smoking (including John). Then Kashyap came with a bang giving Dev D. Now, his latest offering Gulal is a movie par excellence. I have expected him to deliver something in line with Dev D, but he has raised his own standards, thus by proving why he is a director who deserves the accolades.

The movie's theme is the college politics that we see in every part of our country. But where Anurag excels is the uncanny reality that he has shown while depicting the same. He has outdone all earlier attempts made on the similar subjects (Haasil, Dil Dosti Etc). The ensemble cast is finely chosen, but two characters who are a cut above: Kay Kay as Duki Bana and the real surprise Abhimanyu Singh as Ranasa. The power Abhimanyu exudes through his eyes and his voice makes it a treat to watch. The other central character played by Raja Singh Chaudhry who is the protagonist, plays his character with simplicity till the end. He comes to pursue a degree in Law where he gets dragged into politics where Kay Kay and his competitor's tussle turns into a blood war. Another revelation in this is movie is Piyush Mishra (also movie's lyricst and music composer) who plays Kay Kay's elder brother and keeps on giving pucnhes through his deep & thoughtful liners every now & then. The music is fairly good; but if you like poetry, the lyrics are outstanding.

Gulal, for me, is a movie that I would say, represents today's cinematic style and displays our age-old tradition. The script is so power packed, the lines are so real and scenes are shot in such real atmosphere. Man, if you want to see real cinema, this is it. The movie is slow in some parts and the climax lacks the punch it required but I give a damn to these few shortcomings as this movie is a pure treat. I just wish the production houses now understand what Anurag is capable of and come forward for talent & ideas like this from many new but immensely talented film makers.

The movie ends with these fitting lines in the background: 

Ye karwat le soyi haqueeqat ki duniya,

Khwahish mein lipti zaroorat ki duniya,

Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai...

Cheers to Gulal & Anurag!!!

Verdict: 4 / 5

Yeh Hai Box Office Mere Jaan

Who is the best in terms of the number of hits; the first superstar of our film industry Mr. Rajesh Khanna or the once angry young man who is considered as the biggest ever star of our industry Mr. AB. In simple terms kitna paisa wasool actor hai. It does not matter whether the movie is good or bad or carried a message ; if the parameter is the number of hits in their career who actually is the real king or badshah, who actually is the perfectionist! Well my dear friends get ready to hear and digest facts that give us a different picture altogether from just what we perceive today.

Let’s start from Dilip sahab. He started his career in mid-40s and carried on his legacy till late 60s. He made a come back in 80s before retiring in early 90s. He gave many hits (I wont write the names of the movies of any actor, as it would be too long an exercise) and the first person to receive the Filmfare award for best actor. Now success factor at the box office: 54%. Hmm…sounds quite less for such a big star. We will soon find out. Then comes the evergreen Dav Anand. He was more known for his peculiar style and dialogue delivery and his movies were always been attached to his own style. His success rate: 31%. No analysis. Let’s move on to the legendary Raj Kapoor saab, he has contributed to our cinema in more than just acting. He wore many hats of creativity and given opportunities to many newcomers as well besides giving his family the top priority into filmdom. He made sure the industry will always have some or the Kapoor in it. His hit rate: 34%. Oye, only 34%!!! Then came one man who has later termed as the first superstar of our industry, Rajesh Khanna. He gave us many memorable movies with his signature style. But when it comes to success at box office, he is rate is: 33%. Now the superman of hindi film industry, our Dharamji. He made some beautiful movies before slipping onto make some B-grade movies exposing his masculine body. His fate at box office: 27%. Now I understand why he always wanted to drink the blood of so many dogs. Then in early 70s came a guy who made an humble beginning and got recommended by stars like Rajesh Khanna and went on dethrone other stars to become the biggest superstar. Mr. Bachchan had given us many hits and his box office report gives us the figure: 39%. Surprised!!! So am I. But dear these are facts. This percentage includes his movies till date.

The year 1988 saw one man start his career as a chocolate boy and is now called as a perfectionist. Let’s talk numbers now of Amir Khan. He has acted in 38 movies so far. 20 hits. Success rate: 52%. A Delhi boy also started his acting career in 1988 as well, but in a television series.  He made his movie debut in 1992 went on to become the King Khan/Badshah of hindi film industry. Now a producer Shahrukh Khan has done 54 movies with 26 hits to his kitty. So the success rate is: 48%. Then comes the 3^rd Khan, Salman Khan. He has done the maximum number of movies, 66 of them out of which 26 were declared hit. Thus the percentage is: 39%. Now let’s talk about the khiladi, Akshay Kumar who seem to have understood the meaning of paisa vasool more than anybody else in last 3-4 years after working here more for close to two decades. He has 80 movies to his credit out of which 24 are hits. His rate stands at: 30%. And finally the only star of 2000s who is running strong and so far is the only credible actor to be placed in the same league as the above stars is Hrithik Roshan. He started his career in 2000 with a bang and so far has been a part of 15 movies out of which 7 have been given the tag of hit by the box office. So his success rate goes to: 46%.

So, it’s quite clear, as far as the money factor is concerned, who stands where. Cutting the crap, let’s face it. Here goes the final 5, including the so called Numero Uno. It is neither SRK nor Amir, it is Dilip Kumar.

1.     1.  Dilip Kumar (54%)

2.   2.  Amir Khan (52%)

3.      3.Shahrukh Khan (48%)

4.   4. Hrithik Roshan (45%)

5.      5.  Amitabh Bachchan (39%)

What we can see from above is all are great actors, but they have not always made the box office swing to the hype/stardom/stature that they have attached to them. U may or may not accept the ranking above, but dear oh dear they are pure facts.

(P.S. : All the facts are acquired from NDTV India, with inputs from Anupama Chopra & Taran Adarsh)

A Real Curious Case

First of all I am feeling bad as I was not able to post my reviews for some time now as I was busy in my main blog. So posting all the 3 movies I saw late last month.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button comes from Director David Fincher who earlier gave technically brilliant movies like Se7en and Fight Club. This time he comes with his best ever offering, but only in designing & technical department. The art direction, make-up and visual effects are outstanding. The direction is well intended at making an epic and the length of the movie suggests so. You can guess that this movie is nice contender for awards just for it's wide appeal. 

The story is quite a fictional one and it is about a child who is born as an old man of eighty years and as he grows up he becomes younger. Tough to believe, but the narrative is nice and the flow is equally supporting to the screenplay. Cate Blanchette who plays the roll of Daisy, the love interest of Benjamin, does a very good job though she has got limited scope in the script. But again the movie belongs to one man, Benjamin Button played by the immensely talented Brad Pitt. I would rank this roll of his more than Troy. After Babel these two are seen together again. The rest of the cast suits into their own respective roll with ease.

The movie is based on bizarrely unrealistic story which is pretty hard to believe. But the narrative, acting, screenplay and the direction blended with immaculate and astonishingly perfect make-up and visual excellence. You feel for Brad Pitt every time he comes to the screen with a new look and delivers a nice shot, one after another. They best part is there are so many emotional moments, but none of the character gets animated. It's the audience who might need a tissue paper. There so many moments in the movie that you can carry back home. The runtime of 166 minutes is slightly high considering it a Hollywood movie, but after long time (infact after Tom Hanks movies) I enjoyed the movie without complaining about the pace. This itself speaks for the brilliant direction.

Go for it and watch it for it's cinematic brilliance.

Verdict: 4 / 5

Pure Milk...No Impurity

Well, I am not a big fan of Sean Penn nor I have seen all his movies. But he surely made me & all who has seen Milk. One word that I will use for this movie is "inspiring".

When the plot of a movie is based on acceptance of homosexuals and standing tall for such kind of a cause, it takes hell out of you as a Director, Actor or even for that matter the support team. To make things more complicated for the makers of this movie, the story is based on true incidents that took place in 1977 in San Francisco. After moving to San Francisco, the middle-aged New Yorker, Harvey Milk, became a Gay Rights activist and city politician. On his third attempt, he was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977, making him the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the USA. The following year, both he and the city's mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by former city supervisor, Dan White.

The movie is shot so beautifully that you can easily recreate the late 70s era throughout the movie. There are few intimate scenes where Sean Penn is seen with his 1st and in some with his second male-love. But the director has to be given credit for successfully able to pull of those scenes brilliantly. The screenplay is really good and the depiction of characters has been done really well. There is a poetic flow to the entire movie. There are very few flaws that one can catch. I believed that the movie could have been slightly more imaginative as that could have made an emotional attachment with the audience. The ensemble cast has done a decent job, but this actually is Sean Penn's movie. And he rightly deserved the Academy Awards for the best actor 2008.

One final comment where I would like thank the make-up artists and Sean Penn to get into the skin of the exact character of Harvey Milk whose life he was portraying. There are snapshots shown in the end where all the real characters are shown and you will astonished to see the striking similarity not just in the looks but the attitude and body language of Mr. Sean Penn. Hats off to you Sir.

Verdict: 3.5 / 5

Valkyrie...Too Big A Star for Too Small a Script

History has always fascinated me, and if it is about Hitler and a plan to assassinate him, then it becomes more interesting. Directed by Bryan Singer whose earlier notable offerings were Superman Returns & X-Men series comes with drama based on a period that saw the brutality of Hitler. 

Valkyrie opens in Africa, penning in a journal his thoughts about Col Claus von Stauffenberg (played by Tom Cruise) during World War II, and how he feels Hitler is destroying Germany. He meets a group of people who holds high ranks in Hitler's regime and they meet in clandestine meetings to discuss on their further course of action on how to dethrone Hitler. They have planned may failed attempts to assassin Hitler. When Col. Stauffenberg joins them, they again plan to assassin Hitler; this time with with new combat plan named "Operation Valkyrie". Operation Valkyrie (German: Walküre) was an emergency "Continuity-of-Government" operations plan developed for the Territorial Reserve Army of the Germany to execute and implement should; for whatever reason; there come to be a general breakdown in civil order of the nation. The key role was played by German Army  officer Col Claus von Stauffenberg, who was in charge of German Reserve Army's Walküre, a role which allowed him access to Hitler for reports, and required his presence in the coup—which ruled out another suicide attack as planned earlier by other officers. After the first attempt had to be canceled and declared an "exercise", Stauffenberg placed the bomb on July 20 and hurried back to Berlin to assume his pivotal role.

This is a movie that is rich in it's portrayal of the exact scenarios that took place on July 20th of 1944.  But there is a basic flaw that made it dull. Everybody on this earth knows that this was a failed attempt (to be precise this was the last of total 15 failed attempts to assassin Hitler), so the curiosity will not be there. Secondly, Tom Cruise has delivered a run-of-the-mill act and he simply is underutilised. Bryan Singer has failed in one department hugely, that is the lack of excitement. There are moments that may make you get to edge of your seat but only for some moments. As far as the other casts are concerned they have done more than a decent job but overall the movie slips due to lack of pace and moments that one expects out of these historical thrillers. The use of camera and sets were excellent and the best part of the movie. With a run time of 121 minutes it is slow in more than one occasion.

Verdict: 2.5 / 5

Noble Intention...No Execution

I went twice to the multiplexes nearby, first on Wednesday then on Thursday, to get my tickets for the paid preview. I go for paid previews for only selected movies. This time I had to, it was Rakeysh Mehra's product, after 3 long years. So the anticipation was obvious. Add to that Rahman's treat had made create a picture of my own for this movie, Delhi 6.

Delhi 6 starts with few lines from Big B's voice and gets repeated twice during the movie including the climax. Rakeysh has tried to make those lines the theme of this movie. He also included many shades of the human nature, the way we think and the way we live... in the Indian way. Hmm...many noble causes, just like "Rang De Basanti". In one of his pre-release interviews he also emphasized on the scale of the movie which he believes is bigger than RDB, but to be honest this movie has a limitation not in one but many dimensions and it really looks like a movie with small angles. Be it the locations, the scope & space given to its power packed actor line up or it's magnitude of execution of thoughts. I mean when you have people of the stature of Waheed Rahman, Rishi Kapoor & Om Puri and host of young & serious actors like Supriya Pathak, Atul Kulkarni, Pawan Malhotra & Divya Dutta; you should give them that much of screen space to extract the best out of them. To sum it up, I would say the real problem is the script or may be the characterisation itself. And few dialogues were so outdated and obvious that you will ask yourself is this really an Rakeysh Mehra movie!!!

I feel bad, I feel upset, because I expected a lot from somebody who has made RDB. There some basic flaws which Mr. Mehra could have easily taken care of; like Abhishek's weird US accent which was hardly understandable with his added heavy voice or for that matter a lacklustre climax which could have been handled in a much better way. For Abhishek, there was simply not enough script. Sonam does well in her small role and I believe she is here to stay for long. All the cast did their bit efficiently. Waheedaji still looks stunning and grace personified. And finally I must confess that Chintoo uncle shines in his small role. He is picking some nice roles of late (his last was Luck by Chance) and I believe if he continues this streak he could give a run for the money of actors of his movie (it also includes you, Mr. Big B).

In the plus factors are those few moments that you can carry with you home...The music where Rahman again delivers a masterpiece with songs from all genres...and finally a noble theme...a theme that shows our divided religion, our policemen, our society, basically our diversity...but this is perhaps what may work against Mr. Mehra. As he neither executed these thoughts not he can expect the mass to put their head so much in understanding such intricacies that exists in our country.

I am disappointed, not because it is a bad movie, but I put Rakeysh in the top league of directors of our time. I would not have been so critical if it would have been directed by a debutant director. A nice theme & a noble intention, but where is the execution mere jaan!!!

Verdict: 2.5 out 5

Jhoom Barber Jhoom

SRK lands in a unidentifiable machine from another planet on to another, then suddenly Deepika appears, so is one song. SRK has made sure that the entertainment quotient flows throughout the movie. And to most extent it does. When the movie was about to finish...it was again SRK who takes the centre stage. There are 4 songs in the movie. And who is there in all of them? Yes, again SRK. I mean we do need a break from him... And guess what? He gives you that break. And every now and then, there is one guy who keeps popping in to the screen and makes us sit and watch him closely. He delivers his dialogues with uncanny delicacy and sheer simplicity. Yet they are so powerful and moving that you will find yourself in tears when he finally chokes in the climax for just 10 seconds. 

Presenting the ultra talented Irfaan Khan in front of you, once again delivering a fine act. This is his movie, he holds the movie and he gives you the worth of your money. I wish Priyadarshan could have given him more time in the movie. The film is about two friends and how they finally met for just 5 minutes. The theme is nice, but I felt another director could have given this a different treatment. But Priyan Sir also pulled it off nicely.

Lara has done a decent job. And again Mr. Priyadarshan has brought back his cast who are there with him for last 10 or more movies. Starting from Om Puri to Rajpal Yadav. Everyone has pulled off their own small part pretty nicely.

Overall the movie is well shot with some nice locales, some unnecessary special effects and decent music from Pritam (his first for SRK).  I would give an extra .5 for that one man who made the movie look better single-handedly. It's you Irfaan.

Verdict: (2.5+ .5) 3 out of 5

Dev's Reincarnation

When we go to watch a movie which is completely or partially or for this flick "loosely" based on Sarat Chandra's "Devdas", we carry a basic idea of how the plot would be. And the characters as well. And, this is where Dev D scores as well as falters. It scores because it is a completely new & wild yet a practical take on Devdas set on today's pace. But our typical mass audience tries to find out the masala that they have seen over these years in the earlier versions of Devdas.

The movies starts with a bang and ends the same way. First 50 minutes where Dev and Paro are depicted is quite pacy and gripping as well. Then the modern Chanda is introduced who belongs to a posh family in New Delhi. The next 30 minutes till intermission is slow (not for the masses). Second half is again fun & carries on till end. Abhay finally proves that he is here stay and I give him more credits as this concept is his idea. Mahi (Paro) and Kalki (Chanda) are decent and tolerable.

Technically the movie is good. Be it the cinematography or the editing or screenplay.

Pluses: Abhay, Music, and Anurag's direction.

Minuses: Could have used those slow pace (in between)  more interesting.

Verdict: 3 out of 5

Go For It!!!

"Luck by Chance" comes from the production house of Farhan & Ritesh. This is their 5th project together after Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Don and Rock On. The debutante director Zoya Akhtar has proved that she is the sister of Farhan in every sense. She is technically almost perfect in this movie.

The story depicts the struggle of 2 people who wants to make it big in Hindi Film Industry. One succeeds, the other fails. The reasons Shown are not rational, but they are so true. Zoya actually goes inside of the industry and takes you through a journey of 140 minutes that never makes you feel bored.

Farhan again underplays his character remaining well within his limits, Konkona shines as usual. And the 'n' number of special appearances does not look out of the place. Surprising package is Rishi Kapoor who plays a role of a producer. 

Excellent lyrics, equally good music. Full marks to the technical section. They almost touched perfection.

Only negative: It could have been slightly more imaginative.

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5

The Year That Was...best forgotten

The year 2008 was not good for the traders...both at BSE as well as our film distributors....but please do not assume that the reasons are the same. While world market is to be blamed for BSE, terrible scripts and seriously poor direction was responsible for the year of flop movies in our hindi film industry.

The biggest big budget disasters: Yuvvraj, God Tussi Great Ho, Drona and many many more.

At the same time we have seen some small movies of debutante directors doing great. The pick of the movies are Aamir, A Wednesday, Rock On, Dasvidaniya and Mumbai Meri Jaan.

But 3 movies those helped the box office earn some revenue in the entire year are Singh Is King, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Ghajini. The first is a movie without any sense, the second one is much awaited but full of flaws and the last one is just a new version to our Sunny Paji mid 90 flicks. Whatever it was, all the 3 movies together gave box office close 300 crores out of which Ghajini itself generated close to 165 crores.