99

Last few weeks have been bad for bollywood(rather to multiplex/cineplex owners) with virtually no releases. Whats strictly needed is a break - some good story, good actors, light moments, lots of fun. And me being busy with something else, makes the things worse..;)
This movie aint the perfect 'break' but provided the space, it does the job pretty well

After the 'different' 13B, '99' - the name makes the movie look like some kinda thriller. Add to it the cast containing 'method' actors like mahesh manjrekar, boman irani, soha ali and veterans like vinod khanna. Not to forget the dynamic duo of Kunal Khemu sporting a new hair do and the physicaly unfit yet characterily(if theres a word like dat) Cyrus Broacha who remind me of Naseer and Satish Shah in the classic black comedy Jaane do bhi Yaaro.

And for that matter i do think there are few things similar in the 2 movies, except a happy ending that is.I hate to admit, unlike me, i ws bit late for the show again. So i had a Kunal khemu voice in the background tellin me bout the plot. The movie is essentially story of Boman Irana aka Rahul - a compulsive chain-gambler(if theres a word like dat) whos supposed to pay debt to the don AGM-mahesh manjrekar. Mahesh sends Cyrus-zaramud and Kunal khemu to recover money from Rahul. What follows is a cult of crime comedy and moments dat leave u laughin out loudly.

The cast does their job aptly.

Boman Irani is an actor to watch out. This guy shows how to portray a character and looks rather fit. I like the way he pauses in his dialogue delivery.

Kunal khemu is good. Cyrus is the new one on the board. Hes as funny as his bakra days and could make u laugh widout sayin anything with mere expressions. Has got gud comic timing. Soha luks pretty n does her job well. Vinod khanna is almost in special appearance. Mahesh manjrekar has always been a gr8 actor. Theres also Simone singh as Boman's cheerless wife. But who impresses the most is Amit Mistry the recovery agent with his bhaiyaji accent,'dimple' and attempted angrezi- An actor to look for further in more n more comic roles.

The plot of the movie impresses n especially towards the second half the pace catches up. Its baiscally about the match fixing scandal that happened in 1999. But unlike last years Jannat, Its hilariously funny in parts. Albeith some parts are dragged on for too long.
It gets boring at times but at the very next moment, you just find yourself laughing hilariously. I like the way the plot mysteriously connects itself for a happy end. The movie is also very well shot and has got some crisp editing. Picture the scenes between Boman n Simone, Soha n Kunal's ride on the lift, Kunals palika bajaar getaway, the casino scenes are all well executed. I like they way the plot jumps between mumbai n delhi(so much like pyar k side effects). Also the song featuring kunal, cyrus n soha reminds me of DCH, esp whn the 3 laugh for no reason.

On the whole 99 does serve wat is says, provides pure fun my mixing fact and fiction. If you like being in a dark airconditioned hall in the hot summers laughing intermittently and munching popcorn at your will, go watch the flick.

Ghajini : FANTABULOUS

I was keen on watching this one. I discreetly like that it was done at the earliest yesterday courtesy one of my good friends. And confession : It was an absolutly awesome experience to be in that darkroom of the local multiplex for those almost 3 hours.

Aamir khan is the man to look out for. He has the best of the ideas-work once a year, put your sweat and blood into it, and the job is done. Be it - box office, critical acclaim, fans support, awards, sub-ordinates appreciation - this guy cherishes it all, and does it in a single shot n clean sweep.

Wats all the more amazing is the new found - Asin - with girlish charms and simple characterization - does a fabulous job at giving absolute justice to 'kalpana' and establishing herself as the gal who is worth the revenge that makes the sanjay go nuts.

wats the best part about the movie is that the story, action, love, courtship is all fantastically beleivable.

(more to come soon...)

Rab ne bana di Jodi : too Good ji...

" Aur ek aur bat, mai aap se kabhi pyar nahi kar paungi ji. Mujh me ab vo pyar raha hi nahi"

I hate to admit that - unlike me, bit late for the show, those are the words that i first hear as i enter the screen I of the local multiplex showing 'Rab ne bana di Jodi'. And the sweet tone and almost husky voice of the oh-so-lovable Taani makes me beleive - 'Wow this ones gonna b some good watch.'

The next couple of hours just prove that i m right, like mostly am.

@ CHARACTERS:
Shahrukh Khan...Surinder Sahni/Raj - Which one you would chose? and why? which one you wont and why not? I think Suri in himself is reflection of every other guy u see down the street and even when u look at the mirror. He knows wat he wants and also knows its not possible or atleast not easy. But then that information doesnt stop or even discourage him from wanting wat he wants at all. All he knows is he wants it and is gonna try for it and leave the rest to 'Rab'(so much simple and indian that is i think). I think that requires quite courage, and wish i could have that orientation especially where i start wondering whether its worth it? I think Raj and Suri are like Ram and Laxman prasad Dashrath Sharma as portrayed by Amol Palekar in the classic Golmaal. One is soo good u find him irritating, other so irritating u find him lovable. As Raj Suri shows u all what you dont expect him to do while still maintaining the same heart just being a lil bit more clever or may be smart that too in his particular harmless way. I think Adi the director brings the best out of SRK then anyone else. Like an Aditya Chopra movie starring SRK does seem like an SRK movie unlike a Karan Johar movie wher the women become equally important too.(kinda like Raj is more dominative than Rahul is in general)

Anushka Sharma...Taani - She is this sweet flawless and simple gal (and she beleivably looks all that too) who decides to just take life as it comes, untill life kinda starts asking her questions. Questions she'd never want to answer. However the process of finding the answers leads her to the ultimate Answer and thereby makin her realise what she had missed by not being her real self and further brings her the closest to her hubby dear whom she thought she had married for the sake of it. I love the punjaban Taani for more than one reason. I think for her first movie Anushka has done a gr8 job for the newly married young and sehmi-si Taani and stands tall enough(literally and otherwise) with SRK. I think Anushka has got a nice smile and uses it effectively. Also beleive shes got the best cheeks among all followed by Preity Zinta(or maybe the other way round). And she dons those churidaars(or whtever) the bestest grace in recent times.

Vinay Pathak... Bobby - He is the close friend of Suri who'd help him through his ups and downs. The 'Father' of Raj, he is the drink-buddy of Suri, kinda like chunnilal for Devdas or Babu moshai for Anand. Vinay is a gr8 actor and has always stood by it through the characters he portrays. Although in this one SRK absolutely takes over even in the scenes showin them both.

@ MUSIC: Salim-Suleiman - It goes without saying that a YRF production wud have some good tracks. The music here though not outstanding, it does attract through its simplicity and the fact that it does carry the whole essence of the script all through. I esp think the title trackand 'haule haule' are kind of 'here to stay' tracks since Roopkumar and Sukhvinder pour sheer soul in these. Sunidhi does a wonderful job with 'Dance pe chance' while Sonu renders magic with ' Phir milenge Chalte chalte'. Jaideep Sahni pens not poetry but simple words to fit into the tunes.

@ MOVIE: I think the movie is on the whole sweet. Its nice coz its yashraj productions trying to create some beleivable characters while the entire yashraj charm, colours, zest and beauty forming the soul of a modern yashraj movie still remains.

What also makes me wonder almost always is how come this guy Yash Chopra ji and his cult be such a romantic one. And how come they would understand love so well and present in the nicest and most digestable possible way each time they'd make a flick. Some romance runs in the Chopra clan i tell you.

I also beleive this one is close to the V Shantaram's yesteryears earliest technicolor flick ' Navrang'(which incidently is my dad's all time favourite). But then you always like gr8 movies to be remade.
Whats also attractively charming is the whole concept of Amritsar. I mean the movie itself can make me fall in love with the place Amritsar. The sets are so not beleivable but filmingly real. The small town and the market reminds me of NathDwara where i went some days back and the morning did make me feel like Suri. The whole ide of small town Amritsar has been nicely displayed albeit using sets.

Some of the highlights were the gol-gappa scene, sumo fight, Taani doing a dhoom -3, Phir milenge chalte chalge vdo,bobby-suri sequences, the dialogues in general etc.

On the whole the movie does a pretty good job for an entertainer. However for the guy who gave us DDLJ and Mohabatein, this was not an xcellent magical work. Yet forget expections,

RNBDJ does bring a smile and even tears, more importantly, more than once and does arouse the urge in me to watch it all over again for more than one reasons that is.

Sure Entertainer.

Fashion: Very Watchable...

- Success is like moon. Down from earth you always wish for it and wanna b there. Once there you look at the earth or some other place with the same inqusitiveness as you saw moon before. It jst goes on. And then equally important is the method u gonna adopt to reach there.
- Wats more important is not to succeed but to maintain success it and more so - digest it. And dats exactly wehre most ppl fail.
- Ambitions and Values could always clash. You gotta decide the worth of it at a particular time and go for it. And then you gotta know how far u wanna go, with whom, until you just become al alone.

fashion - [fash-uhn] –noun
1. a prevailing custom or style of dress, etiquette, socializing, etc.: the latest fashion in dresses.
2. conventional usage in dress, manners, etc., esp. of polite society, or conformity to it: the dictates of fashion; to be out of fashion.


Madhur Bhandarkar likes to surprise. What he does is takes the common and quite known surprises as a default part of a script and shows something beyond, thereby giving the audience a feel of an absolute surprise(whtever dat meant)

I watched (may be had to watch) Fashion twice and found it nicely true and truly nice. It does a suuficiently good job to reveal the darkness and dullness behind the bright and well-decorated parda in the fashion world. Well gud job, wat else a Madhur Bhandarkar movie is supposed to do then?!!

Now, Madhurs movies have been highly female-oriented. The protagonist is always a lady from some sphere of life and then it takes on from her dreams/aspirations, efforts to achieve them, hindrances, solutions, ppl around her and the life around all that. The same thing goes with Fashion. The guys take a back-seat. Most of them are shown gay, the rest just bite their lips. not to forget that Arbaaz Khan, Ashwin Mushran, Harsh Chhaya and the new guy Arjan Bajwa give picture perfect performances. Samir soni always looks reserved. All these, however, are absolutely overshadowed by the following reigning ladies. May be its the script or the length of the roles but wats sure the big reason is the performance....

Shonali Gujral @ Kangana Ranaut : The reigning queen of the ramp she undergoes a sudden downfall mainly due to some kinda favourtism(ye watever) from the main sponsors. Shes one actress to watch out for. Notice her awesome confidence when on the ramp and even off it too. Also watch her do a carol gracious while on the ramp and the subsequent reaction and her mocking of kitu gidwani's asking her to take her work seriously. Madhur draws an absolutely award-winnin performance outta this gal. Only thing she needs to work on is diction. Not here since her eyes speak and so does her body. Way to go.

Meghna Mathur@ Priyanka Chopra:
The main protagonist - small town gal - who wanna make it big in the F world as a Supermodel. Will she /wont she? depends all on the amount of sacrifices she cud go for. Now since all this doesnt happen all of a sudden she doesnt even know where shes actually heading. Something like if you keep eating walnut-brownie with vanilla all along while watching Drona, there might be a chance that u would like d movie. This is almost like a much-awaited comeback for priyanka considering drona was aweful like the rest few. Also after sometime now i liked priyanka in this one. I mean i think she was gorgues which i didn find b4 otherwise. Also she does the job with absolute ease. Watch her in first intakes of cigarette in the tense fashion world, showin arrogance all around thinkin its the all-so-necessary attitude. Her eyes speak in the awe-inspiring finale on the ramp where in she makes sure not to mess up anything. Attitude personified. Its gonna get her some award methinks. I personally think shes never lookd so hot b4. Her bods as perfect as dat of a manequin and i specifially love the puff of hair she got in this one.


Janet @ Mugdha Godse
Very apt for a newcomer. Janet is just another model with not too big dreams but has a league of her owan. Just takes life as it comes. Is pretty cool about life and very helpful to her fellows to the extent she agrees to marry her old college time mate turned gay fashion designer just for the sake of it. She the gal whos been there done that and hence kinda balances the fall and rise of the above two important character in her own sweet ways. An actress to watch out for in future for sure.

Fashion in itself represents the very feel behind it. I mean the glamourous bods, short dresses, luvly hairstyles, bikinis, lingeries an all take a back seat and the most non-sensed ppl would starts likin the sensitivity of the characters rather than watchin it for the sake of all this. It does rightly show the tears that go behind all the attitude and the pomp xhibited on the ramp. This beautifuly xemplified by the finale reluctant walk by priyanka her eyes shining with tears yet she exuberating the perfect attitude and moves.It also shows that sometimes it jus cud be good to tak a break and then hitback in the form of priyankas comeback and her further success story.
-Priyankas guilt of being responsible for the downfall of kangana thru her comment is nicely xhibited thru her losing her all-so-gr8 confidence.
-And her 'adventure' with the black guy xemplifies how incorrect shes been al the while.

All n all a wonderful creation.

does need some cuts for those 2hrs 40 mins

Yet a must Watch, ekdam mast watch.

PS:
@Madhur Bhandarkar - He tries too much more than just tell a story - its like a sting operation where he has been given the huge responsibility to uncover everything thats wrong in the subject under concern. Not exactly my kinda thing. Notice his own presence as self in the movie.
While Hello disappoints big time, I really want him to make a and all-the-more realsitice movie on the BPO - call center industry. Beleive me madhur its got as much glam as you would want for a Fashion or Page-3. Its got much more drama, happiness, ups n downs and other masala. May b i cud make such a movie some time soon.. yeah..


Best of luck himanshu.

Hello & The other end of the line..

While hello disappoints badly as compared to the written version..
Heres another and more realistic one based on the ammazin world of call centers
Wat looks all the more promising is
The other end of line...
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=eEF2j9UR8j0&feature=related

Check out the trailer it almost tells us the story line.. pretty interesting..
Anupam kher would sure put up as good a performance as he did in Bend it like beckham..
This time is call centers and US rather than footbal and UK.
Sumthing tells me this must b worth a watch..
More soon...

Review - Karzz:

Check my Karzzz preview here...

Oh I just love it when

I m RIGHT.

Went to watch the movie this saturday night, Karzz stood out to be as bad as i would 've thought. but then calling it bad doesnt sound any worse since it was anyways expected.

@PLOT :

Absolute copy. Few intense dialogues are also copied.. and u surely judge how bad actor himesh

as compared to the charm xpressed by rishi's Monty. Check himesh out doing almost a trinity (as in The Matrix), out of nowhere, towards the end, very rajnikant'ingly filmy.

Why was there a need of Kaali Mandir here also?

@ URMILA
Princess Kamini is the real princess of karzz... Murder, love, betrayal, casino, betting, golfing, driving, confusion, dance, anger, songs- she does this all and more with an awsome and eye-raising Style and yet with the all the conviction... Check out the way she dons thos n number of gowns.
Her eyes exhibit the ruthlessness and she does luk beautifuly evil. Check out her Entry and her luvliest xpressions in Tandoori nights... Urmila at her best.. Is she ageing or is it just make-up?


@SHWETA KUMAR

Now Shes pretty and i did no research on her... may b so i liked her lots for her prettiness.. Shes got the bestes green+grey eyes. does her part convincingly for a new-comer. Looks absolutely pretty,nice and cute... like the character. Plays tina quite well. Check her out in the cap in subhanalla and then trying to sing the same song.. vry good.

@DANNY

Plays Shwetas Pathaan Guardian Uncle.. I luv the way he is filmy and how good he is in the bad bad world... he knows it all and uses it all nicely for all good. Good Potrayal of a good man in bad world. He sure does makes u hav all the fun along with asrani offcourse.


@Himesh

Notice i give him the last space.. Well dat says it all.

Physically he does suit monty's age. His hairdo reminds me of Mougli. Hes got beard.. not bad but then he can sure get it trimmed. Ditto for his side-locks. Well for the music director, lyricist and singer himesh, acting is quite gud. I didn like it that he copied the ek hasina thi track all-like-that. I mean i m sure he cud've been innovative with him. Hes got a huge fan-following as a music guy.. that will take him and hence the movie far...How can he wear trousers so low waist?.

Dino Morea dies convincingly. Rest all the characters are almost wasted.

Finally...

Its an absolute bollywood masala movie with all ingredients of romance, anger, rebirth, music, action(hehehe), glamour, foreign locations,road accidents, rona-dhona, search of love, havelis, dances, chamatkars, emotions, the bad-gud guy, the gud-bad guy, maa-behen ka pyaar, bhagwan ka aashirwad, kudrat ka karishma at their best(thanks to the original karz.).
BUT Its got Himesh Reshammiya as the lead...

later,
Himanshu.

Matrix and why I like the Triology:

(Now this ones from among my older collection.. some time when the 3rd one.. Revolutions released.. Js having the privilege to add : read ctrl C + ctrl V: it on to this place..)

It was the highest money-maker till now this year, an ppl were already waiting for the wordwide release of the concluding part of it later last month.
So what do we understand from the matrix series an how do we explain that?

Looking back, its absolutely difficult to seperate the 3 of the series.

So Here's a crash course for anyone who wants answers. Real one's, not some fanboys idea of what it's about. Its jus a kinda personal review(to be frank, not entirely personal tho). if u love the matrix series or in general, are a movie freak, for that matter, u r gonna like this...


We start with the basics:Zion is real! The Matrix

is not. The Matrix was designed to provide a mental stimulus for the human bodies connected to the machines as a source of power. This is the sixth version of the Matrix(accd. to reloaded). There have been multiple versions of the Matrix because of a flaw in the program (kinda of like Windows). That flaw is giving individuals the ability to choose.The first Matrix was designed as a perfect uptopia(an idealistic social/political place) (see pt. I - Smith explains it to Morpheus; pt. II - The Architect explains it again) but humans did not accept it as real so they just kept waking up. It was redesigned to reflect our civilization at it's last stage before it was taken over by the machines (the year 1999).The Architect's problem with this new design(the anomaly) of the Matrix is that it require individuals to think freely, i.e. choice. It was the Oracle that suggested he redesign the Matrix in this way. But since humans have choices, so must the programs sent to watch over them, i.e. The Agents, thus bringing us the problem that is Mr. Smith. In Reloaded, The Architect continues to speak of the anomaly he is unable to get rid of, which is why at some point, he feels the only solution is to destroy the Matrix and those who are aware of it (the people of Zion) and start from scratch again. The Oracle says it clearly in Revolutions. Mr. Smith is the result of the anomaly trying to balance itself. Mr. Smith began to think freely (see part I where he is shown kinda freaking out while interrogating Morpheous an gets caught by the other agent:"What were u doing?") and the result was a negative one. He is the virus in the system( an so is persephone-monica belluci, in reloaded). Realize this, he is a similar program to 'The One' so he is far more dangerous than a normal individual who makes bad decisions. Mr. Smith's virus like behavior happened in EVERY VERSION OF THE MATRIX. The result would always lead to the same thing -- a system crash if they didn't quickly reboot the system. The same 'Oh Shit' reaction you have when you realize u got a virus onto ur computer. All that is required is a restart altogether after end-tasking everything(kinda 3 finger salute in windows - ctrl+alt+del)'The One' program was created to solve this problem(kinda anti virus + spyware + antispam). But each version of it ultimately failed.(you gotta hav upgrades!) Neo is different, in Reloaded he choose the door that led to Trinity, not the door that RESETS the program. Note: The Architect even noticed that Neo's experience in the Matrix was different than all the rest, realizing he was the first of them to fall in love.(kinda antivirus liking a particular file rather than the entire system)

Onto Revolutions:Neo's choice has changed everything. The system is still threatened by Smith's behavior, so the Oracle makes a new choice; one she has never done before because no version of the One has ever chosen the difficult path as opposed to easy one of just resetting the system. She allows herself to become merged with Smith in the HOPE that she'll be able to help Neo when the time is right.Neo makes another unique choice. He goes to the machines and asks for PEACE as opposed to simply destroying the system by going through the opposite door as all other versions of the One did. It was a simple as that to save Zion. Machines don't need very long to process that this may be a better idea than just constantly resetting the system.At the end, Smith says to Neo the movies tagline - "Everything that has a beginning has an end," as the Oracle is speaking to Neo through Smith. Neo realizes it all along, the only way to end this is to sacrifice himself. The Oracle noted that Neo and the Source (the computer mainframe, the Architect they're all one and the same so don't get confused) are connected which is why he can control machines outside the Matrix. He uses this connection to his advantage. He becomes a Mr. Smith and since all the Smith's are connected, the Source now has a lock on Smith and simply deletes him.

Pretty simple hmm?...

For those that like to dig deeper, than note the spiritual references throughout the series.... Heck, the French Man (Merovigchian) is the Devil, just read the elevator button Morpheous presses when he goes to see him for the second time.

The Architect represents God - i.e. the creator of the world and its destroyer whenever things don't go as he wants. He even has you to chose a select group of people to restart Zion like Noah's Ark(biblical).

Neo (and not 'The One', in general,) is kinda God's angel(dahaayo babo), the one who realizes that peace and love is the answer, not war.

And the Oracle represents the Holy Spirit - the conciousness that resides in all of us.

So,
It's seems a deep trilogy if we pay attention. And can surely and closely be associated with the Brahma(architech)-Vishnu(the One)-Mahesh(Smith) concept in the Indian Mythology.
I beleive that explains the series in a broad an interestin way,

Here are few parts(rather dialogues) frm the triology that i like a lot:

- "I dont beleive in fate 'coz i dont like that idea that someone else controls my life"
- "Faith is a stronger force than any other"
- "Time is always against us"
- "Its not what choice u will make that is important, coz its already known. whats mor imp. is that why u will make that choice?"
- "Hope is an indulgence. I dont have time for it. I prefer being sure."

All for now,
himanshu.
'Research is what i am doing when i dont kno wat i am doing.'