Showing posts with label Hindi Movie Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hindi Movie Review. Show all posts

Movie Review : BUMM BUMM BOLE*1/2


STARRING : Darsheel Safary, Atul Kulkarni, Rituparna Sengupta, Ziyah Vastani and others.

DIRECTION : Priyadarshan


STORY

The story of the flick revolves around the characters of two kids Pinu (Darsheel Safary) and Rimzim(Zia), who are brother-sister, living in a terrorist infested area with their poor parents – Khogiram(Atul Kulkarni)-Rituparna Sengupta.


Though Khogiram is a poor man working in a tea plantation to survive the harsh life, he does manage to send his children to a good school. But unfortunately, he is not able to meet the high standards of school and that includes dresses, shoes, books, etc, for children.

A tricky situation arises when Pinu misplaces (while going to get it repaired at a shoe shop) the only pair of shoes that Rimzim had. Now, to solve the problem of school, Pinu and Rimzim decide to use the same pair of shoes that Pinu had.

However, whenever Pinu tries to help Rimzim with his shoes, either he is late or is the victim of something else, with the result that Rimzim suffers without shoes.

Luckily for Pinu, an interschool Marathon is going to take place soon and the third winner will get a pair of shoes. The young boy wants to gift this pair of shoes to his sister, who does not have shoes at this point of time. Pinu does not want this opportunity to slip from his hands and starts preparing for the same.


What happens to Pinu’s desire to win shoes and whether his father comes to know of this, is the subject matter of rest of the flick.


PERFORMANCE

Darsheel Safary, who rocked in Aamir Khan’s ‘Taare Zameen Par’ and plays the part of Pinu in this flick, carries his part well but somewhere misses the spark of that award winning flick. Nonetheless, the young lad keeps his basics of acting right and does not falter on them.

However, Darsheel wearing orthodontic braces in some scenes of marathon and missing in others seem a strange thing. Even, during the preparation and running of race, the enthusiasm seems to be missing from the sequences.



Ziyah Vastani, the gril who plays Darsheel’s sister Rimzim in the film, looks so cute. She is so natural in her acting that the audiences would find it hard to take their eyes away from her.

Atul Kulkarni, who plays the character of Darsheel’s father Khogiram, comes out with a winning performance. Every nuances of his character has been carefully enacted on the screen with the result of making it most realistic.

But same can not be said about Rituparna Sengupta, who enacts the part of Darsheel’s mother in the film. However, to be fair to her, it must be said that her role was not author backed and she had hardly any scope to showcase her histrionics.

Direction of Priyadarshan is top notch in the first part of the film but he loses the grip in the final sequences, which is lackluster, to say the least. Another factor, which mars the film at the box office, is its slow pace in this fast paced modern society. The music of the film is good and cinematography top notch.


VERDICT

Darsheel and Atul Kulkarni have done great job but movie lacks pace and solid climax to make it endearing at the box office. Overall an average fare.

Badmash Company Movie Review, Ratings and Theatrical Trailer

Badmash Company Movie Review, Ratings and Theatrical Trailer
Movie : Badmash Company
Cast : Shahid Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Veer Das, Meiyang Chang, Anupam Kher
Movie Release Date: 7th May 2010
Music Director : Pritam Chakraborthy
Director : Parmeet Sethi
Language: Hindi

Plot: Badmash Company Movie is the story about 4 friends who want to get rich quickly. They craft out a nice plan which makes them start a company that becomes a hit by beating the system. The story unfolds to show how long they stay without getting caught and what if they get caught.

Badmash Company, first look. It is the story set in 1990s in the middle class Mumbai. It is about four friends, Karan played by Shahid Kapoor, his love interest Bulbul played by Anushka Sharma, Chandu played by Vir Das and Zing played by Meiyang Chang of the Indian Idol fame. The story is about a company formed by four of them which is an import business to chase their dreams of making it big some day. They aim to achieve stupendous success by discovering a way to beat the system. They realized that by doing all the wrong things ....in a right way.


Badmash Company Preview; the four friends chased their dream to earn quick money by hook or by crook and believed that to run a successful business all you need a superb idea and a well executed plan rather than huge investment. They did not shy away from taking huge risks to earn big money until one day when they decided to close down. What happens next is for the audience to discover. The film is releasing on May 7Th in theatres.

Badmash Company previews also talk about the music score lend by Pritam. From ear shattering bass guitar, electronic disco, heavy metal to Pritam’s signature style sufi-rock, Badmash Company has it all. The film scores high on style quotient with Shahid Kapoor and Anushka Sharma a fresh couple to look out for. The total feel of the film looks fresh, with some great make overs. Shahid who has earlier shattered his chocolate boy image in the film Kaminey is all set to deliver a yet another path breaking performance in Badmash Company. It is a debut film for Meiyang Chang who rose to fame after Indian Idol. The film produced under the banner of Yash Raj Films is directed by Parmeet Sethi. Badmash Company hits the cinemas today,7th May 2010.




Housefull Movie 2010 Review

Housefull Hindi Movie – Houseful Movie Review – Comedy Kings are back in House Full 2010 Movie


Once again, comedy kings are back in Housefull 2010 movie. Housefull is a new Hindi movie of Bollywood in the direction of Sajid Khan. House Full movie releases on 30th April, 2010 in Indian theaters.

Akshay Kumar as Arush, Riteish Deshmukha as Bob, Arjun Rampal as Major Krishna Rao, Lara Dutta as Hetal, Jiha Khan as Devika, Randhir Kapoor as Kishore Samtani, Chunkey Pandey as Akhiri Pasta, Boman Irani as Batuk Patel, Lilette Dubey as Zulekha and Malaika Arora as Pooja are the leading casts of Houseful Hindi movie.

House Full movie is presented by Eros International. The film is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala’s. Co-producer of the movie is Andrew Heffernan. House Full Hindi film is introduced by the Nadiadwala Gradson Entertainment Ltd. Production. Music of Houseful movie is composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

Official website of Housefull movie, housefullthefilm.in writes about the film synopsis, “‘HOUSEFULL’ is a romantic comedy entertainer which narrates the story of Aarush – the world’s unluckiest man. Being jinxed he believes his bad luck can vanish if he finds true love. In this quest for true love how one lies leads to another and how different people from different walks of life come together adding even more confusion to his hilarious comedy of errors resulting in total chaos and mayhem. As Deepika tells Akshay in the film ‘JIS JHOOTH SE KISSI KA GHAR BASTA HO, VOH JHOOTH JHOOTH NAHIN HOTA’.”

Housefull Hindi movie is a romantic comedy which narrates a story about the world’s unluckiest man – Aarush. He is under the bad luck. His bad luck can turn into good luck if he finds a true love.

Story of Housefull 2010 movie reveals around comedy and hilarious confusion during the quest for true love. In the result, the movie introduces total chaos and mayhem. Now, there is a question – is Housefull a new version of All The Best movie?

Housefull is not a new name in film industry. There is already many movies on the same name - Housefull (2010 Telugu film), Housefull (2009 Kannada film) and Housefull (1999 Tamil film). We already have watched a drama serial also with the same name - Housefull (2008).

Now, there is also a question – how different Housefull 2010 Hindi film from others? Yes, answer of the question can be gotten in the cinemas on 30th April, 2010.

Director of Housefull movie - Sajid Khan has again tried to introduce the comedy team of Heyy Babyy movie with a small change. However, Heyy Babyy was a remake of an American comedy movie.

After the failure of Chandni Chowk to China, 8 X 10 Tasveer, Kambakkht Ishq, Blue and De Dana Dan - Akshay Kumar is again back with a new comedy – Housefull 2010. However, his character in Housefull Hindi movie is very similar to Garam Masala and Deewane Huye Paagal.

On the other hand, Houseful Hindi film gives the best chance for Ritesh Deshmukh and Arjun Rampal also. It is the big time for Arjun Rampal because comedy is very difficult for him.

There is no doubt about Ritesh Deshmukh because he has already proved himself as a comedy actor. BOMAN IRANI is another comedy king for Houseful 2010 film. Similarly, JIAH KHAN has also to prove herself in comparison of DEEPIKA PADUKONE and LARA DUTTA.

Script of Houseful movie is very close to Do Knot Disturb movie. Arush’ friend - Ritesh Deshmukh helps him to hide his secret.

The most popular song of Housefull 2010 movie - “I Don't Know What To Do” is a new version of "Hum Bane Tum Bane" song of Ek Duuje Ke Liye movie. Overall, music of Housefull Album has gotten the biggest popularity by "Papa Jaag Jayega" soundtrack.

In a recent interview, Lara Dutta reveals about Housefull movie – “‘Housefull’ is a comedy about mistaken identities and people coming together to help each other. It gives out the message of looking after the people who really matter to you in life and protecting them. It’s a fun filled film as you can make out from the promos. It’s a mad-cap comedy, but not a ‘mind-less’ comedy. It is not like other brainless comic movies. The plot is extremely delicate and you have to pay proper attention to it or you will loose the link.” She talked to TOI, an online news portal.

Lara Dutta is playing a character of Gujarati girl - Hetal Patel in the movie. House Full is a big-budgeted Hindi movie of Bollywood. Every casts have great expectation with this movie. Audiences are also waiting to watch a match of Akshay and Deepika in comedy role.

Houseful word derives from entertainment world. It is used for superb and blockbuster movies. The word has been taken by Housefull 2010 movie to entertain audiences with the biggest blockbuster. Housefull film has been shot with the entire cast over four countries England, Italy, Hong Kong and India. It is the second blockbuster of Eros International after Paathshaala movie. Check out the biggest comedy Hindi movie - Housefull this weekend in your nearest theaters on 30th April, 2010. The movie brings back comedy kings with the biggest entertainment.

Paathshaala : Movie review by experts


Paathshaala : Movie review
Rate: 4.88 / 8 votes
'PAATHSHAALA', SHARING its release with RGV's Phoonk 2 hits the cinema houses today on April 16. The film under the direction of Milind Ukey has a topical story highlighting the coarse fact that education centers have been merely reduced to a commercial hub. The story touches upon the grave situation where these alleged education centers are minting money from the parents claiming to give quality education to their children.

Paathshaala showcases Shahid Kapoor as an ideal school teacher named Rahul Prakash Udyavar paired opposite another teacher played by Ayesha Takia. Nana Patekar will be seen playing the strong role of a principal in a school named 'Saraswati Vidya Mandir'.

Paathshaala portrays the obligatory monetary compulsions levied by the management of 'Saraswati Vidya Mandir' school on the parents of the students studying in the school. With Saraswati Vidya Mandir as an example the film presses upon the flawed education system followed by the Indian society. The film in the offset dwells upon the mounting academic pressure on the students, the mindset of parents as well as that of the students about the entire education process. The story is upfront on the issue of commercialization of the education system in the contemporary India.

The film Paathshaala draws attention due to the topicality and emotional quotient which calls for a public questioning of the credibility of the prevailing education system in Indian society.
Loose scripting and unplanned screenplay in Paathshaala takes a back seat as the film is successful in posing a question in the viewers mind on the issue of commercialization of education.

So, go to this Paathshaala only if you are ready for some serious thinking.

Paathshaala Movie Review, Rating



Paathshaala Movie Review, Rating

Times of India

Film: Paathshaala
Cast: Shahid Kapoor,
Ayesha Takia, Nana Patekar
Genre: Drama
Direction: Milind Ukey
Duration: 2 hours
Critic's Rating: 3 Star

Synopsis : Shahid Kapoor joins Saraswati Vidya Mandir, an old school on the threshold of change, as the English teacher. He soon realises not all the changes are going to benefit the students, even as Principal Nana Patekar fights a losing battle with the profit-obsessed mmanagement. Time for revolution....

Movie Review: The film is low key, restrained and often too laid back. Yet it works because it is intensely topical and has an uncluttered charm to it. Set in the precincts of an old world school, it traces the battle of a handful of sincere and committed teachers and students against a newage management that wants to transform the centre of education into a commercial venture. Needless to say, the malaise within Saraswati Vidya Mandir is symptomatic of the disturbing trend which seems to have overtaken our real-life schooling system too. One where an increasing number of private schools are yelling `show me the money' to a growing band of concerned parents. Again, can't blame them entirely, can we? Blame the competition....

But Paathshaala does strike a chord with its simple tale of how a few good men -- and kids -- first try to cope up with a rapidly changing system of education which has the kids trying to hard sell their school by participating in reality shows and grabbing space in the print and television media. The management has not only hiked the fee and is implementing any and every scheme to make an easy buck, it has also hired a marketing company to create a buzz about the school. It doesn't take long before the sensitive and guru-like teachers are all side-lined by the cell-phone wielding image-makers who wouldn't care less about a kid's emotions. But, there's only this much moolah-alone-matters mantra that our in-house Sidney Poitier (read Shahid Kapoor) can handle. Soon, he's spearheading an andolan against the brutish management, along with the bachcha log and the noble profession people. Read More At Times Of India

Rediff

Rediff Rating : 1 and Half Star

Unfortunately the title of this film will have most parents' think of it as a children's film. But Paathshaala is not a kiddie flick.

Neither is it targeted at an adult audience. In fact Paathshaala is a film which won't keep anybody entertained (young or old). After the blockbuster hit Taare Zameen Par it was only a matter of time before another film on the evils of the education system was churned out. So now director Milind Ukey brings us Paathshaala.

Saraswati Vidya Mandir is an educational institution which nurtures kids and upholds education as a noble profession. The man at the helm of affairs is principal Nana Patekar (Aditya Sahay) a man who has sacrificed his life for the school, never felt the need to get married; in short, a model principal.

Then the trustees of the school feel the school isn't generating enough revenue, it isn't a brand name, and all that spiel which goes with it. In this scenario enters the young idealist Shahid Kapoor (Rahul Prakash Udyavar) who is horrified at what's happening in the school.

Paathshaala is clearly inspired by Taare Zameen Par or maybe it's a coincidence. But the similarities cannot be missed. Shahid loves his profession and all the kids he works with. There is no romance in his life. But Taare stayed focused on a single issue whereas Paathshaala hopes to dwell on all that is wrong with our system today. The film meanders on and the audience is wondering whether this is a docu-drama being churned out by Films Division.

Everything about the film is one-dimensional. The school itself is a set and looks like a cardboard cut-out. The characters are all good or all bad; there are no shades of grey.

The supporting cast of teachers looks straight out of a TV serial. Kurush Deboo (better known as Rustom Pavri from Munnabhai ) plays Cyrus Hansotia a pessimistic teacher who carries his own duster and flings chalks around the classroom. Sushmita Mukherjee is Mrs Bose, a bumbling Bengali geography teacher who stumbles in and stumbles out of the frame. And that's all they do right through the film.

So as Nana Patekar sets out to compromise on his values and generate profits for the school, several issues are raked up. Selling stationery and sports goods at higher prices, vending soft drinks and junk foods which are harmful for kids, increasing the fees mid-year, it's almost like the script writer and producer Ahmed Khan created a list of grievances which had to be included in the film. But they do not come together to form a cohesive screenplay.

If this wasn't enough the film also deals with the issue of reality shows. But facts are presented in a confused haphazard manner. No school can send children for a reality show audition without explicit consent from the parents. The crew behind reality shows is loud-mouthed and offensive. Read More At Rediff

Merinews

Merinews Rating : 4 Star

'PAATHSHAALA', SHARING its release with RGV's Phoonk 2 hits the cinema houses today on April 16. The film under the direction of Milind Ukey has a topical story highlighting the coarse fact that education centers have been merely reduced to a commercial hub. The story touches upon the grave situation where these alleged education centers are minting money from the parents claiming to give quality education to their children.

Paathshaala showcases Shahid Kapoor as an ideal school teacher named Rahul Prakash Udyavar paired opposite another teacher played by Ayesha Takia. Nana Patekar will be seen playing the strong role of a principal in a school named 'Saraswati Vidya Mandir'.

Paathshaala portrays the obligatory monetary compulsions levied by the management of 'Saraswati Vidya Mandir' school on the parents of the students studying in the school. With Saraswati Vidya Mandir as an example the film presses upon the flawed education system followed by the Indian society. The film in the offset dwells upon the mounting academic pressure on the students, the mindset of parents as well as that of the students about the entire education process. The story is upfront on the issue of commercialization of the education system in the contemporary India. Read More At MeriNews

Rann Movie Review Rating By Taran Adarsh a

Rann Movie Review Rating By Taran Adarsh


Ramgopal Varma is itching to tell a new story in his movies. You may garland him for his efforts or loathe him if you feel letdown, but you need to hand it to him for picking up stories that defy stereotype.

This time, in RANN, the maverick film-maker does an expose on the games the heavyweights in the media play to further their interests. RGV goes into the newsrooms and also behind it and throws light on the politician-industrialist-media nexus. Also, it's an insider's account of how news channels that are greedy for ratings sensationalize stories to grab eyeballs.

On surface, you don't want to know what goes behind the scenes and how, at times, news are 'created' by vested interests. But RANN scratches the surface and opens a can of worms. RANN also mirrors the fact that just like there are good and bad people in every field, there're some rotten ones in the media too who succumb to temptations and create news to climb the ladder of success.

RANN is a serious film and RGV knows what he's talking this time. It wouldn't be erroneous to state that you recall RGV's SARKAR while watching RANN, even though the two films are as diverse as chalk and cheese. You recall SARKAR because RANN is an equally powerful film that shows a world we've only seen from the exterior.

RANN is for those who enjoy serious cinema. It's more for the intelligentsia, for the thinking viewer. Definitely not for those who seek refuge in frivolous masala capers.

Vijay Harshvardhan Malik [Amitabh Bachchan] is the founder of a private news channel, India 24/7. A hardcore upholder of journalistic ethics, his channel is battling for survival. Jay [Sudeep], his son, looks at his father's news channel purely as a business enterprise that must make profits to justify its existence. He hates that his competition [Mohnish Bahl] is doing better than him.

The story takes a turn when a corrupt politician, Mohan Pandey [Paresh Rawal], decides to use the channel to his advantage by using Vijay's son-in-law Navin [Rajat Kapoor]. Pandey aspires to be the Prime Minister and indulges in a vicious campaign against his political opponent.

Navin is the most insecure man on earth and won't rest till he becomes the number one industrialist in the country. He, in turn, involves his brother-in-law Jay in Pandey's game plan.

film like RANN would fall into the pit if [i] its writing wouldn't be razor-sharp and [ii] the choice of actors would be incompetent. RGV's movies, generally, are embellished with competent actors who deliver super performances. In this film, every member of the cast shines in his/her role, the length of the role notwithstanding.

The writing is watertight and convincing. Besides, the subject matter has been presented in the most simplistic manner, which makes it easy to decipher. However, the episode showing Riteish's investigation tends to get confusing at one point, but the climax compensates for the minor hiccups here and there.

Amit Roy's cinematography is eye-catching. Dialogues are power-packed. In fact, one can identify with the well-penned dialogues. The background score plays a crucial role. It heightens the impact of various scenes.

Amitabh Bachchan is spectacular yet again, especially towards the finale. His speech and the way he delivers it are remarkable. Sudeep is terrific. To stand up to giants like Bachchan and Paresh Rawal is no mean achievement. Riteish is only getting better and better with every film. In fact, he surprises you constantly.

Paresh Rawal, seen in an RGV film after a long, long time, is at his vicious best. Rajat Kapoor is incredible. Mohnish Bahl gets the role of a lifetime and he sinks his teeth into it. This film should open new vistas for him. Gul Panag is natural and so easy on the eyes. Neetu Chandra does her part well. Suchitra Krishnamoorthy is too good. Rajpal Yadav contributes to some funny moments. Neena Kulkarni and Simone Singh are perfect for their parts.

On the whole, RANN is truly a well-made film. No two opinions on that. The film should be patronised by viewers of serious, sensible cinema. Recommended!

Ishqiya Movie Review Rating By Taran Adarsh

Ishqiya Movie Review Rating By Taran Adarsh


Movie : Ishqiya
Director : Abhishek Chaubhey
Cast : Naseruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan

Get ready for tangy, pungent, sizzling and spicy stuff. Be forewarned, Ishqiya isn't the fluffy, candyfloss, saccharine sweet story of lovers breaking into songs in mustard fields. In Ishqiya, you just don't know what turn the story may take next. Not just the story, even the characters here are so impulsive and unpredictable.

Rating : Four stars

You need to have a strong stomach to absorb Ishqiya. It's high on drama, it's wild, it's real. But it's not dark, it's not sleazy, it's not crass. Frankly, you don't expect debutante director Abhishek Chaubey to make a stereotypical fare thanks to the tutelage by his guru Vishal Bhardwaj, who loves to swim against the tide and undertake risks in film after film.

You could call Ishqiya a distant cousin of Omkara. Set in Gorakhpur in North India, the film has a rustic feel, depicts characters that may make you uncomfortable and is laced with saucy lingo. Yet, it's different than Ishqiya.

Final word? You can't help but fall in ishq with Ishqiya. Tired of sherbat? Try this spicy jaljeera for a change!

Two thieves, Khalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi), are on the run from their boss, Mushtaq. They seek refuge at a friend's house, but instead meet his widow, Krishna (Vidya Balan). The time spent together draws the duo to her, Khalu with his tinted vision of old-fashioned love and Babban with his lustful eye. But the past catches up with all three!

There's no denying that the promos had prepared me of the journey ahead, yet it took us a good 15-odd minutes to get into the world of Khalujaan, Babban and Krishna. But once you get sucked into their world, the blurred images start getting clearer and clearer and you become an active participant in their journey.

The first hour passes in a jiffy, but the story actually gets dramatic and volatile in its second hour. It's at this stage that things start getting more and more unpredictable. The story does a somersault every 10 minutes and by the time it reaches its finale, you're curious to know how the debutante director would conclude this saga. The end, of course, will have its share of advocates and adversaries, but the fact remains that it's offbeat.

Abhishek Chaubey is a welcome addition to the ranks of avid storytellers. His choice of the subject and also handling of the material is what makes this film so eminently watchable. Not once do you feel that Ishqiya has been helmed by a first-timer. Note the change of events in the song Dil To Bachcha Hain Ji or the kidnap drama and the heated argument that follows thereafter. Even the passionate lovemaking sequence between Arshad and Vidya has been dexterously canned.

However, Chaubey and his team of writers could've kept the writing simplistic towards the finale. It's complex and also lacks clarity. Yet, all said and done, screenplay writers Vishal Bhardwaj, Sabrina Dhawan and Abhishek Chaubey deserve kudos for coming up with a film that keeps you hooked for most parts.

Vishal Bhardwaj's musical score has his unmistakable stamp all over. The film is embellished with two lilting gems - Ibne Batuta and Dil To Bachcha Hain Ji - which are a rage with listeners already and have been juxtaposed beautifully in the plot. Mohana Krishna's cinematography is first-rate. Dialogues (Vishal Bhardwaj) are acidic and a few lines are indeed startling.

Ishqiya explores human emotions

Every actor in Ishqiya delivers a sparkling performance! Naseeruddin Shah is superb as a romantic. He is matchless in the sequence when he learns the truth about Vidya and Arshad. Arshad packs in a bravura performance yet again. Post Munnabhai films, Arshad should be liked in this one the maximum. Vidya continues to surprise. It's a dynamic performance undoubtedly. Paa and Ishqiya are two landmarks in her career.

The actors enacting the role of Jijaji, the kidnapped victim and Vidya's husband are all perfect. The child, who interacts with Arshad, is natural. In fact, every performance in Ishqiya is worthy of mention.

On the whole, Ishqiya is definitely worth a watch. The film has a riveting plot, great performances, soulful music, an absorbing story and skilful direction to make the viewer fall in ishq with it. It should appeal to the hardcore masses as also the multiplex junta.

Movie Review: Chance Pe Dance is annoying

Movie Review: Chance Pe Dance is annoying
Chance Pe Dance - Hindi Movie Trailer
Chance Pe Dance - Music Review
Chance Pe Dance - Cast and Crew
 

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Genelia Dsouza and Arshad Warsi

Director: Ken Ghosh


There are three moments in Chance Pe Dance that I can't get out of my head. The first involves a small kid, digging his nose furiously, followed by a tight close-up of his booger. The second is that of a Parsi gentleman in a sudreh, scratching his hairy chest and armpits incessantly. The third is a scene in which Shahid Kapoor scrapes his nails against a blackboard, the shrill sound of which is deafening.

Evidently each of these scenes is intended to make you turn away, to be repulsed even. The thing is, director Ken Ghosh needn't have tried so hard. Chance Pe Dance is an annoying, exhausting film that entirely fails to entertain. ((pause)) Shahid Kapoor stars as Sameer Behl, a struggling actor chasing the Bollywood dream. He faces rejection every day, until finally his killer dance moves get a prominent film director to notice him and subsequently sign him up as the lead in his next film. Not much later, he is dropped from the film.

Sameer has no money for rent and finds himself living out of his car. He has no money for meals, and must take up a dance-teacher's job at a school. It doesn't take a genius to predict that he will lead his oddball students to victory in an inter-school dance championship, and depite all odds, he will become a movie-star after all.

Chance Pe Dance doesn't work because you feel no empathy for its protagonist. The film's writers -- if you can call them that, considering there is no script to speak of -- fail to invest even a hint of vulnerability in Sameer. Moreso, Shahid Kapoor's surface-level performance doesn't help convey the desperation his character's supposedly feeling.

The obligatory romantic track between Sameer and an upcoming choreographer (played by Genelia D'souza) is so random, it adds no dimension to the central plot. This is a film without any character arcs, or plot progression. To be honest, Chance Pe Dance is a film that probably started shooting before a script was ever written; a one-line idea that never developed into a complete story.

The dance portions here are impressively performed by Shahid Kapoor, but you could interchange each of the sequences and it would make no difference to the final film. Much of the blame for that must by shared by composer Adnan Sami who delivers an uninspired soundtrack of indifferent tunes.

Chance Pe Dance is only a little over two hours in running time, but feels much longer because the screenplay limps lethargically in no particular direction.

Of the cast, Genelia D'souza saddled with a half-baked role and left pretty much to her own devices, screeches through her scenes and strums up none of that buoyant energy one has come to expect from her. Shahid Kapoor for his part, makes too many faces throughout the film, and lets his chiselled abs and his nimble feet do the talking. Unfortunately, that's not enough.

I'm going with one out of five and a thumbs down for director Ken Ghosh's Chance Pe Dance; he borrows liberally from such Hollywood films as School of Rock and the Jessica Alba-starrer Honey. But with it's theme of a struggling actor's ultimate vindication, in the end I suppose Chance Pe Dance could be described as "Luck By Chance-For-Dummies". Although it would be a crime to mention the two films in the same breath!

Rating: 1 / 5

Mayank Shekhar's Review: Dulha Mil Gaya

Mayank Shekhar's Review: Dulha Mil Gaya

Dulha Mil Gaya
Director: Mudassar Aziz
Actors: Fardeen Khan, Sushmita Sen, Shah Rukh Khan
Rating: *

Donzai is the debonair of the West Indies, the cad who can’t commit. He throws away millions of bucks merely partyin’ for a livin’. The gate of his house has the imprint ‘D’ -- inside’s a pool full of white unknowns. He has bronze hair that changes colours, face that squares to the double chin, and a belly that doesn't show. He still walks around and lights up ciggies with a particular swagger. Fardeen Khan at best appears a parody even before attaining the fame of his normal self.

Sushmita Sen’s Shimmer, the diva, with love for a little dog. She’s a super-model of the Windies, who delivers husky instructions to her minions around, when she’s not changing costumes.

The hero walks to the "latreen” in DDLJ-aded Punjab for a simple, spectacled girl he must marry (and dump) to keep his dad’s inheritance. The diva takes on that orphan girl and turns her into a pretty temptress Donzai can only pine for.

Rakesh Roshan, in the ‘90s, could have made use of this before-interval, after-interval script. But then that’s already done. There are two more romantic scripts in here: a jobless DJ going through crisis with this girlfriend.

And then the deadly diva’s very own boyfriend: Shah Rukh Khan, make that in caps, thank you. He can buy off an entire bar along with its last drink; jump the ocean for his girl’s toy; dance in shades, and Pathani suits: a super-star made self-conscious, self-serious, self-self on every scene!

The mother’s diary is read out. The 'karva chauth' song’s been choreographed. Donzai’s been instantly tamed. Everything’s all over the place. Distributors are ecstatic.

I check my cellphone for the time yet again. The filmmakers could’ve checked for the year (they were making this film in as well).

Movie Review : Pyaar Impossible (2010)

Movie Review : Pyaar Impossible (2010)


Pyaar Impossible: Is an average watch; Rating: 2.5 out of 5*; Starring: Uday Chopra, Priyanka Chopra, Anupam Kher and Dino Morea; Director: Jugal Hansraj.

Geeky Abhay Sharma (Uday Chopra) is in love with the hottest girl in his college, Alisha Merchant (Priyanka Chopra) while studying in California. While he keeps day dreaming about her, she doesn’t even know his name or acknowledge his presence. One late night he even saves her from drowning but despite that he doesn’t get a word of thanks in return since she decides to leave the college the very next morning and returns back to her father in India. Seven years pass by and Abhay still continues to nurse his huge crush on Alisha. Meanwhile, he gets cheated by the hands of a smooth talking businessman Siddhu (Dino Morea) who robs his developed path breaking software.

But after motivated by his father (Anupam Kher) Abhay goes in search of Siddhu to Singapore where he is supposedly based. But to his surprise he sees Alisha working as the PR and Marketing Head of the very same company where Siddhu is trying to sell of his software, passing off as his own for a multi million deal. When Abhay goes on following Alisha to her house he learns that she is now a divorced single mother. Alisha however, mistakes him to be a male nanny for her daughter. But Abhay keeps quiet and continues to work as a male nanny in her house as it actually gives him a chance to share moments with the girl he has been dreaming for so many years. What happens when Abhay learns Alisha is falling for Siddhu whose real name is Varun and how he manages to extract revenge for the cheating done to him, forms the rest of the plot.

In his second directorial venture, following the entertaining animated film, Roadside Romeo, Jugal Hansraj shows good technical finesse. But with the screenplay written by Uday Chopra himself, being the weak link, the film fails to achieve the status of an ideal date flick. There is not much novelty in the subject. One can actually guess the graph of the story as to how it will proceed. While there are few good comic moments like the dinner sequence at Priyanka’s house or the torturous first day for Uday playing a male nanny and also some really wonderful lines, the film loses steam with its predictability factor. While nothing much happens in the film’s first half, the second half presents things that don’t really take you by surprise. The climax is too tame as well.

Underplaying to the hilt, Uday is very endearing in his geek act. Priyanka looks absolutely stunning and carried her self well for a role ranging from playing a hot bubblegum college gal to a single working mother. Mostly presented in suits or jackets, a dashing looking Dino Morea is very impressive enacting a suave villain. Anupam Kher playing Uday’s equally geeky father is good as usual. The little girl playing Priyanka’s daughter is cute and likeable. Rahul Vohra playing Priyanka’s boss fits the part.

Salim Sulaiman’s music fits the mood of the film perfectly and the songs have been very well picturised including the school rock number performed on screen by the girl playing Priyanka’s daughter. Cinematography is of international standards by Santosh Thundiyil.

Many Hollywood films have come with a similar theme as that of Pyaar Impossible and if the film is targeted at the youngsters, then there are chances many of them must have already seen them. So, despite good performances by the entire cast and some really well penned sequences, Pyaar Impossible ends being just an average watch. Watch it if you have nothing else to do.

Raat Gayi Baat Gayi Movie Review

Raat Gayi Baat Gayi Movie Review

Review: Raat Gayi Baat Gayi
Cast: Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Neha Dhupia
Direction: Saurabh Shukla
Rating: **


With her husband sitting beside, the wife quickly sizes up a waiter at a coffeeshop, and bluntly passes him on her phone number. She looks at the husband then, and asks, “Now do you know how it feels to be hurt?”

There’s a touch of universal truth in that moment. It sort of explains why women should feel more betrayed when cheated on. They can quite often get whoever they want. Whether married, single, old or ugly, the fairer sex is rarely short of attention. They’re still seldom bowled over by flattery.

They keep their calm around male hunters; most of them being pests, anyway.

It’s usually the man who slips even if a stranger gave him half a look; a hint of an opening. His woman has probably a right to feel wasted on an ungracious loser.

The thought behind that scene (whether intended or not) is however completely lost on the film. The husband thereafter starts to ridiculously hum the Dil Chahta Hai song: ‘Jaane kyon log pyar karte hain…’ His wife imagines a flash of romance, and instantly hugs him back.

What’s true of that wasted scene is pretty much true of the entire film. That gentleman (Vinay Pathak) at the cafe, an unexplained moron in his manners, is kicked out of his house, caught chatting up a soft-porn stranger on the Internet. His best friend Kapoor (Rajat Kapoor) has a bigger issue to deal with. It isn’t clear if someone spiked his drink with ‘roofies’ at a perfectly sober party the night before. But a married Kapoor has absolutely no memory of an eventful night beyond a point. He can’t recall whether he did (or did not) bed this unknown, mysterious girl (Neha Dhupia), who’d apparently walked in with her boyfriend, walked around endlessly, blank-faced, in a backless dress, and who’d found Mr Kapoor’s first name Rahul, “interesting”. His wife’s been behaving differently since morning.

We hang on until the hung-over hero figures his momentary loss of reason and memory, moving back and forth to the party, or from one apartment or phone conversation to another; still dullness in the air; a local version of the Pakistani soft-voice, and box-guitar fusion, in the background.

You can sort of tell what the filmmakers could be trying to suggest: A bunch of mid-aged men — ‘pseudo’ Saxena, stone-faced Kapoor etc — going through mid-life crisis; fighting temptation over a “settled” life.

You realise quite early on the makers just don’t know how to make their wonderful point, besides for most parts, humourlessly tire you off to sleep. Even when they attempt the atmospherics, they get back with hollow conversations that mention Einstein, Ghalib and Rembrandt, and an unrelated profundity of the century: Why are all men the same. The picture is largely set at a party only as fake and boring as the flick itself. You could leave both.

Bashes in ‘Bollywood’ back in the day meant a grand piano at the centre. The hero crooned away his message of love. The heroine joined him for a dance. A huge crowd of suits and sarees gathered in a circle, quietly stared, and sipped their drink. Some white people floated in the back-rows. Oh we miss those! This one neither touches nor tickles. Better still, get us Hangover any day.

Rocket Singh Friday Box Office Report

Rocket Singh Friday Box Office Report 
Rocket Singh Friday Box Office Report, Will Rocket Singh sky-rocket to success?




As already reported, Rocket Singh opened to decent response in morning shows across major multiplexes across metros, gained momentum during evening shows with 80%+ occupancy. Rocket is carrying good reports from audience as well as critics. Overall first weekend should be bountiful. First day will score in 3 – 3.5 crore

Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year : Movie Review

Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year : Movie Review

Movie Review: Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year


Director: Shimit Amin
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Gauhar Khan, Manish Chaudhary,Shahzahn Padamsee
Rating: ****


Rocket Singh is quite relatable in recent times. Half the day one gets uncalled-for calls from salesmen wanting to sell us products from the world. And in the other half almost every employee in any organization dreams of starting his own company like his workplace. Rocket Singh combines these common-man conflicts to come up with a compelling narrative.

Harpreet Singh Bedi (Ranbir Kapoor) has always been a below average student and post graduation he desires to be a salesman. He joins as a trainee in a company that sells computers but goofs up in an early deal that invites him abuse by bosses and ridicule by colleagues. Relegated to his desk, Harpreet is restricted from going on field and realizes that his ideologies are not in sync with the so-called professionals of today. Soon he thinks of a way to get even with his boss Puri (Manish Chaudhary) and starts his own secret sales and service agency while continuing to work in his existing company.

Though not designed likewise, Rocket Singh kinda starts where Wake Up Sid ends. The protagonist has just completed his graduation, has gained a sense of responsibility and is all raring to go in life. Ranbir Kapoor graduates both in terms of his character and as an actor.

When the film is in the hands of a smart writer and skilful director, it can never go wrong. Rocket Singh has the correct combo of writer Jaideep Sahni and director Shimit Amin who team again to come up with another winner after Chak De India. Jaideep Sahni works towards sketching every character to real-life precision. And though these characters are extremely ambitious in pulling off clandestine commerce right under the eye of their boss, Sahni doesn’t make the screenplay look larger-than-life at any point.

The trademark elements of Sahni’s scripting style can be sensed in the writing of Rocket Singh as well. On the lines of the team-building of Chak De India, Harpreet puts together a team for his undercover company. And like the ethical conning in Khosla Ka Ghosla, this team also tricks its competitor company, where interestingly they are employed. The detailing towards establishing the protagonist’s changing conflicts comes out convincingly in the screenplay. The dialogues are wonderfully effective with a witty punch in every line and a non-preachy management mantra in another.

While any sales person or an average office executive can effortlessly identify with the setting of the film, director Shimit Amin doesn’t restrict the audience till them. He works more towards the human angle giving the film a universal appeal, while retaining its office authenticity. Harpreet’s field induction scene is smart and sassy. The pre-interval scene where boss Puri mocks and degrades Harpreet for his mess up is poignant. Like in Chak De India, Shimit thankfully refrains from the regular Bollywood tendency to liberally work out a parallel romance track. There is a love story which is kept short-n-sweet and is briskly defined through a transition song.

Salim-Sulaiman limit the soundtrack to a couple of tracks which are either employed as transition songs or played in background, thereby not interrupting the flow of the film. Vikash Anshum’s cinematography and Arindam Ghatak’s editing are just perfect. Niharika Khan dresses Ranbir Kapoor in formal pastel clothing and colourful turbans making him look like the coolest Sardar ever on Indian screen.

Rocket Singh offers Ranbir Kapoor immense range, as the character takes lead over the actor. He is perfectly poised in one of his best performances so far. The character-driven story doesn’t let Ranbir overshadow the supporting cast, each of who gets good scope. D Santosh is hilarious as the hardware service agent and gets the best repartees. Mukesh Bhatt as the office clerk is funny. Navin Kaushik as Nitin, the senior sales manager reminds of Raghu from Roadies for his cheekiness and is brilliant. Manish Chaudhary in a confident-personified act comes across as one of the most efficient negative leads in recent times. The one item-number-old Gauhar Khan surprises with an amazing natural performance and is a talent to look forward to. Shazahn Padamsee is charming but remains almost parallel to the plot and doesn’t get much scope.

A line from the film states, “Risk toh Spiderman ko bhi lena padta hai, main toh phir bhi Salesman hoon” (Even Spiderman has to take risk, I am just a Salesman). The makers have taken as much risk to sell a not-so-regular story to the audiences. And it has paid off pretty well.

Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year is one of the most rocking films of the year.

Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi - Sexy Promotion

 Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi - Sexy Promotion



Any Press kit can’t get sexier than this! The press kit which was till now just a simple tool to share the film information with the media has become creative with ‘Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi’. The reason being Pritish communication and Mirah entertainment who have included some interesting items in the press kit like Durex Condoms, Contraceptive pills, Party smart capsules, Tang energy drink, Happydent wave-2, and a Disprin tablet.
Before unveiling this press kit, the producer and presenter of the film Pritish Nandy said, “This kit is above average and will shock you for a moment. Besides that, I’m sure this will be a unique press kit you have received”
Slated to release on 31st December, 2009, the film recently won the Best Film Award at HBO’s New York SAIFF and features Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Neha Dhupia and Dilip Tahil.

Radio Movie Preview | Mann Ka Radio

 Radio Movie Preview | Mann Ka Radio

'Radio' - Himesh clicks, film doesn't




Film: 'Radio'
Cast: Himesh Reshammiya, Shenaz Treasuryvala, Sonal Sehgal; Director: Ishaan Trivedi
Rating: **

'Radio' starts off in a way similar to 'Love Aaj Kal', just like the Saif Ali Khan-Deepika Padukone film began with a break up, 'Radio' has a divorce starting the proceedings. To the credit of director Ishaan Trivedi, Himesh Reshammiya and a couple of well integrated songs as part of the background score, 'Radio' manages to impress in the first 30 minutes.

The way scenes unfold is indeed different. The unique narrative keeps one reasonably engrossed in the proceedings. But once the conflict in RJ Himesh's personal life is established with two women (ex-wife Sonal Sehgal and co-RJ Shenaz Treasuryvala) adding to the confusion, the movie starts meandering.

The writer's intent about showing past love coming back in the protagonist's life is understandable but somehow the final outcome isn't engrossing enough.

Yes, the songs are soothing but they are so many and come in quick succession that they tend to become distracting after a while. Moreover, the proceedings cease to be gripping enough with the drama fast losing its sheen.

The silver lining here are the performances. Himesh shows improvement over his 'Aap Kaa Surroor' and 'Karzzzz' days and comes up with a natural act for most part of the film. Enacting emotional scenes is his forte, as evidenced in his countless music videos, and this is on full display in 'Radio' as well. Watch out for the sensitive moments that he shares with both the women.

Shenaz as well as Sonal fit into their parts quite well. In fact they not just look good but also stay within their characters to come up with an act that is definitely better than expected from people who have just started off. Yes, they do become part of a couple of inexplicable and embarrassing scenes like the one where they start breaking the plates in a restaurant. Or the one where Shenaz dresses up as a clown. But leaving such aberrations aside, they do show sparks.

One can't fathom though the need to have Paresh Rawal in the narrative. He is completely isolated from the storyline and fails to give a final punch in the finale. Paresh Rawal's role seems to be a case of a last moment addition in the script. As a prank caller hired by the radio station, his jokes fall flat. And he doesn't share a frame with any other actor even once.

The second half of the film doesn't quite stand strong on it's feet. A scene or two do bring in an emotional touch to the story but beyond that 'Radio' doesn't quite get the right tuning on. In the end, what remains with audiences is a good soundtrack and performances.

One can clearly sense that Himesh has made a sincere effort to stand tall as a leading man in a non-masala film like 'Radio'. He cannot be written off yet and has it in him to do more movies provided he gets a better platform.

Paa Release On This Friday | Paa Synopsis - Cast & Crew

Paa - A very Rare Father-Son, Son-Father Story  Release On This Friday | Paa Synopsis - Cast & Crew

Meet Auro On This Friday, 4-12-09, at your nearest theater............





Cast


Cast:
Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Paresh Rawal, Arundhati Naag,Taruni Sachdeva, Pratik Katare, Nimit Dhaiya, Varun Shukla, Dhruvin Doshi,Karan Bhiwandkar, Gaurav Bajaj


Crew

Assistant Director: Jagan Shakti  
Still Photographer: Gene Gulati  
On Air Promos: Nilesh Raut, Abhilesh Shivalkar  
Cinematographer: P. C. Sreeram  
Publicity Designer: Rahul Nanda, Himanshu Nanda  
Story Writer: R. Balki  
Costume Designer: Sabyasachi Mukherji, Aki Narula, Falguni Thakore, Rahul Agasti,Vijeyata Manchanda

Sound Designer: Tapas

Director: R. Balki

Producer: Big Pictures, AB Corp, Sunil Manchanda

Banner: Big Pictures, Mad Entertainment Ltd.

Music


Music Director: Ilayya Raja


Lyricist: Swanand Kirkire

De Dana Dan Review at a Glance

De Dana Dan Review at a Glance



A word about...

Story: Thankfully this Priyadarshan slapstick has some story appended to it. The second half is loosely inspired by the 1992 Hollywood flick ‘ Blame it on the Bellboy ’ which was remade in Bollywood just a year ago as ‘ One Two Three ’. The deluge sequence in the climax is inspired from another Hollywood flick ‘ The Towering Inferno ’ (1974).

Music: Pritam’s music is quite outdated this time and every song is forced into the narrative. Salim-Sulaiman’s background score is loud and at several instances overshadows the dialogues.

Performances: Akshay Kumar repeats himself but is funny at times. Sunil Shetty seems jaded and uninterested. Paresh Rawal hams. Archana Puran Singh is in the Masti mould. Manoj Joshi goes over the top. Johnny Lever gets the best sequences and is clearly the scene-stealer. Rajpal Yadav and Asrani are equally hilarious. Katrina Kaif looks pretty. Sameera Reddy and Aditi Govitrikar can’t act. Neha Dhupia is better amongst the females. Chunky Pandey is non-existent. Vikram Gokhale looks miscast in comedy, which he has probably attempted for the first time.

Dialogue: For a comedy, the dialogues are pretty lame with not sufficient punches or one-liners.

Cinematography: With a major part of the film being shot inside the hotel, the camerawork isn’t much demanding and K Ahambaram does well as the cinematographer.

De Dana Dan Movie - Review - Rating - StarCast

De Dana Dan Movie - Review - Rating - StarCast


De Dana DanStar Cast : Akshay Kumar as Nitin, Sunil Shetty as Ram and Katrina Kaif
as Anjali, Sameera Reddy, Paresh Raval

Direction : Priyadarshan.


De Dana Dan Movie Rating: 3.5 / 5

De Dana Dan Movie Review:

De Dana Dan almost marks a decade of the end of the sensitivity and sensibility of director Priyadarshan who switched on to commercially driven comedy capers post the success of Hera Pheri . De Dana Dan also almost marks a decade of the widespread acceptability that the slapstick genre has gained in scarcity of sane comedies.

Going by its casting, do not expect De Dana Dan to be a sequel, tribute or extension of the Hera Pheri series. Forget the threesome chemistry, there is hardly a single frame in the film where the trio of Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal share screen space. Except of course for the trademark Priyadarshan style chaotic climax where again their chemistry is diluted (literally through flooding fuss) as the entire cast joins them for more commotion.

Nitin Bankar (Akshay Kumar) is a driver under debt and Ram Mishra (Sunil Shetty) is a courier boy who hasn’t delivered much in life. Though both have already assigned girlfriends (Katrina, Sameera) for them, the film still takes too long to come to point. Money is the need of the hour and so Priyadarshan does some hera pheri in the story – which means a kidnap. Just this time the duo kidnaps a canine and you wonder if the film is going to the dogs.

As you try to keep a count on the ever-increasing character artists, the entire cast checks-in a five star hotel. Soon the story takes the shape of the 1992 Hollywood flick ‘ Blame it on the Bellboy ’ which was remade in Bollywood just a year ago as ‘ One Two Three ’ (and also starred Sunil Shetty and Sameera Reddy). A comedy of errors ensues with characters doing Bhagam Bhag throughout the hotel.

Call it a ‘wardrobe’ disaster but Akshay Kumar is locked in one for practically an hour of the film’s runtime. With a seemingly lost Sunil Shetty and a screeching loud Paresh Rawal, it’s left up to the character artists to save the ship. But a flood is induced in the climax as the director seeks inspiration from another Hollywood flick ‘ The Towering Inferno ’ (1974) with each character going down the drain.

As the name suggests, De Dana Dan is a quickie flick which is hastily written, rapidly filmed, has swift storytelling and speeding characters giving you no time to breathe, gasp, feel, absorb react or relate. The film takes time to kick-off and nothing much happens in the first half. The second half gains momentum with cross-connections of characters inside the hotel. The more you attempt to keep a track of the individual tracks, the more it confuses you. The less you try to join the links, the more it binds you.

What could have been the USP of the film, acts against it with the comic chemistry of Akshay-Paresh-Sunil clearly missing. In fact the other character artists add more value to the film varying from the deafening ones (Archana Puran Singh, Manoj Joshi) to the hilarious ones (Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani). Undoubtedly the humour is loud and noisy but this slapstick is appended with some story (Suresh Krishanan). Unfortunately for a comedy, the dialogues are pretty lame with not sufficient punches or one-liners.

Pritam’s music is quite outdated this time and every song is forced into the narrative. Salim-Sulaiman’s background score is loud and at several instances overshadows the dialogues. With a major part of the film being shot inside the hotel, the camerawork isn’t much demanding and K Ahambaram does well as the cinematographer. The art direction (Sabu Cyril) and SFX (Red Chillies) effects for the deluge sequence in the climax are well executed though it doesn’t contribute much to the film. For a comedy, De Dana Dan is considerably long at almost 3 hour runtime and could have been more crisply edited.

Akshay Kumar repeats himself but is funny at times. Sunil Shetty seems jaded and uninterested. Paresh Rawal hams. Archana Puran Singh is in the Masti mould. Manoj Joshi goes over the top. Johnny Lever gets the best sequences and is clearly the scene-stealer. Rajpal Yadav and Asrani are equally hilarious. Katrina Kaif looks pretty. Sameera Reddy and Aditi Govitrikar can’t act. Neha Dhupia is better amongst the females. Chunky Pandey is non-existent. Vikram Gokhale looks miscast in comedy, which he has probably attempted for the first time.

De Dana Dan Movie Release Today ( 27th November 2009 )

The hot dusky beauty is eagerly waiting for her laugh-riot movie, ‘De Dana Dan’, to get release today.


De Dana Dan Movie


Sameera Reddy plays a Punjabi kuddi, Manpreet Oberoi, in this Priyadarshan’s comedy, something interesting challenge for an actress of south origin.


De Dana Dan Pics

But the actress brushed off the character’s expectations as she said to have comfortably pulled off the Punjabi role.


De Dana Dan Stills


Sameera said that she didn’t work much on the Punjabi accent for the movie, for she just had to play a normal urban girl. Being a hilarious flick, the actress had her share of fun on the sets. Talking about ‘De Dana Dan’, Sameera said, “Katrina and I play girlfriends of Akshay and Suneil respectively and since we have money and they don't, it leads to some really funny scenes. In their endeavour to make money, they steal a dog and what follows next brings in more than a couple of dozen characters together. The film is typical Priyadarshan cinema and has the kind of comedy which is completely situational.”


These days where hour-glass figures have given place to size zeroes, Sameera remains to maintain her chubby image. With slim beauty Katrina in De Dana Dan, Sameera has no concerns over her own figure. In fact the actress is not in favour of a skinny figure and explained, “See, Indian men like to see their woman in a certain shape and size but which brings on the oomph. But sorry, from a model body, you can't expect that oomph factor. This entire 'go skinny' route is not setting a good example for the Indian women.” Sameera also stated that image-maintenance is all media generated. To prove her point, she refers to yesteryear actresses like Sridevi, Kajol and Madhuri Dixit who weren’t thin.

Twilight Review

Twilight Review
Rating:


3 out of 5

Short version: Twilight really is strictly for fans of the book – while not terrible, it’s far from great.
Bella and Edward Twilight movie review
Screen Rant reviews Twilight
So it’s finally here.
Twilight, at least for a select group of ladies, has been THE most anticipated movie of 2008 – and their wait is finally over. The question is: Was it worth it?

For them, yes.
For the rest of us? Eh, not so much.

Twilight opens with the introduction of our heroine, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). She is in sunny Arizona with her mom and new stepfather, and as they prepare for a long road trip she decides that she’d rather go up to Washington state to stay with her estranged father, Charlie (Billy Burke). He lives in the small town of Forks (population 3,000) and is the local sheriff.
She arrives in the middle of the school year so although it should be hard to make friends (and it’s implied), she manages to connect with a group of kids who are far more welcoming than she is ready to be welcomed. They give her the scoop on who’s who and they soon point out the Cullens, an odd assortment of very pale-skinned guys and gals. To make things weirder, they are apparently foster brothers/sisters yet they are “couples.” They’ve been taken in by the local Dr. Cullen and his wife.
One of the group is of course, Edward (Robert Pattinson). His story is that “no girl is good enough for him.” Of course Bella is immediately fixated on him, although the feeling is apparently very much not mutual. As a matter of fact when she is assigned to be his lab partner, he seems to be repulsed by her.
Edward leaves for a few days, and when he returns his mood towards Bella has changed considerably. He’s now polite and at least feigns interest. She (mostly) gets over being offended and tries to get to know him although he still doesn’t want to get close to her. Almost immediately he saves her from being killed in a car accident in a scene that’s been shown in the trailer. She’s no dummy and doesn’t miss the fact that he was across the parking lot, got over to her in a flash and was able to keep a van from smashing into her (to the point that he left a dent in the door with his hand). [Note slight sarcasm there, folks]

Anyway, we soon meet Dr. Cullen (Peter Facinelli) at the hospital, whose makeup job is so incredibly white that he looks like the Cesar Romero version of the Joker. He is none to pleased about Edward (I guess I can’t call him “Ed,” huh?) possibly exposing who he really is to save Bella’s life.
One thing leads to another and the burgeoning romance is on its way, with a side trip to a confrontation with the “bad” vampires who actually kill humans to feed (go figure). You see the Cullens only drink the blood of animals. The bad guys have been responsible for a number of gruesome murders in town recently. One of them decides to target Bella and thus we get the final confrontation which finally brings us some decent action.
So what’s good?
I thought that the stars and supporting cast actually did a really great job. Bella’s friends were engaging, funny and they played their roles very naturally. Billy Burke was low key and very good as Bella’s father, Kristen Stewart did a decent job, and I have to say that despite his severely sculpted eyebrows and uber-funky hair that I liked Rob Pattinson’s portrayal of Edward Cullen. I don’t know how closely the way he played the character matched the version in the book, but I thought that his uncertainty and awkwardness in light of how powerful he really was made him quite charming.
There were quite a few moments of unexpected humor in the film that I enjoyed. Nothing huge or slapsticky, but just little things that were enough to actually make me laugh out loud (which some comedies this year didn’t manage to make me do). Really the performances made this worthwhile for me.
So what wasn’t so good?
For a non-fan, it was really a pretty bland film. It seemed very slow-moving at times, and let’s face it – it’s a pretty “stock” teen romance movie. There wasn’t anything really special here outside of the fact that it had, you know… vampires.
Nothing really eye-catching as far as cinematography or interesting shots, and one think that really struck me as bad were the visual effects. When the film had its first “super-speed” effect, where the bad vampires corner one of the locals, it was so poorly done that I think I actually gasped out loud. I mean there was this incredibly cheesy blur that I can’t really describe except to say that anything you see on an average episode of Smallville is done far better.

Imagine my shock at the end of the film when in the credits I saw Industrial Light & Magic listed among the visual effects companies. I can only guess that they were responsible for some other effect and not the one I just mentioned (which was terrible throughout the film).
Towards the end the teen-romance-cheese-factor pegged the needle in the aftermath of the big battle in a scene between Edward and Bella. That was about the hardest scene in the movie to sit through, and pretty much from there until the end it was quite sappy and reminded me of a typical teen TV series on the CW.
The audience full of Twilight fans seemed to enjoy it a lot and gave it a thumbs up, so I guess it’s achieved its goal. I’m curious to see if it does well enough at the box office to generate a sequel (which I’m thinking would actually be better than this film).
So take all that for what it’s worth – I’ll leave the decision of whether to see it or not up to you.

Oh, and yes (for the fans), Edward does “sparkle” in the film and Bella is clumsy.

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