Khelen Hum Jee Jaan Se

Medium : Hindi

Starring : Abhishek Bachan, Deepika Padukone, Vishakha Singh, Sikhander Kher
Director : Ashuthosh Gowariker
Music : Sohail Sen

The ace director of 'Lagaan' and 'Jodhaa Akbar', Ashuthosh Gowariker had done something big this time also, he had once again come up with a historical movie. The story is based on a literary work 'Do and Die', which in turn is about a real incident happened in 1930 at Chittagong, a village in Bengal. This time Abhishek Bachan and Deepika Padukone were selected to do the lead roles. Sohail Sen, who gave some excellent songs in the director's previous movie 'What's Your Raashee', is in charge of the music section. Kiran Deohans and Seetha Sandhiri have worked as the cinematographers.

The story opens up by showing few teenagers playing football, an army battalion reached the spot and defended them. The students, who were frustrated at this decided to tell this to a freedom fighter. Surjya Sen (Abhishek Bachan) is a teacher, who is also a revolutionary leader living in Chittagong. He and his companions including Kalpana Dutta (Deepika Padukone), are working silently against the English rule. The young friends told their problems to them and also willing their interest to participate in the movement against the British. Surjya had agreed to admit the youths and using them they form small groups to plan the attack. What happens to all of them is the history, which is shown in the rest of the movie.

The thrill happened while watching a movie like 'Lagaan', won't be there in this movie. This is due to the fact that the director had concentrated on the real life incidents more, rather than focusing on the cinematic punch. He should have added some dramatic incidents that can give more excitement for the viewers. The attempt made by Ashuthosh Gowariker, to make another historical movie (after two in his credits already), should be appreciated. It should be noticed that the making of such a subject is not a simple task. The selection of the location (similar to the Kerala environment), costumes and the art works for making this movie, needs special mention.

Sohail Sen had given an excellent bg score. The songs won't be the best, but goes with the mood. Cinematography by Kiran Deohans and Seetha Sandhiri are simple, but the best. Art director Nithin Desai had helped the director a lot with his immense contribution. Abhishek, Deepika and Vishakha, accompanied by a bunch of new faces had done well.


'Khelen Hum Jee Jaan Se' is yet another movie that raises the history of patriotism. The attempt to make such a different subject needs applause.


Rating : 6.5 / 10

Break Ke Baad

Medium : Hindi
Starring : Imraan Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sharmila Tagore
Director : Danish Aslam
Music : Vishal Sekhar, Hithesh Sonik (bg score)

Another love story had released in bollywood. This is Imraan Khan's next project after 'I Hate Luv Storys' and Deepika Padukone had joined him from the sets of 'Lafangey Parindey'. Danish Aslam, who has assisted directors like Sidharth Anand (in 'Salaam Namaste' and 'Tara Rum Pum'), Kunal Kohli (in 'Fanaa' and 'Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic'), is the director of the movie. It is produced by Kunal Kohli (director of 'Hum Tum', 'Fanaa', 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge' etc). The theme of the movie is clearly understood from the title.

Gulati (Imraan Khan) and Aaliya (Deepika Padukone) ar thick friends from their childhood days itself. When grown up, their friendship has been changed to love. Gulati was placed in a high position at his father's company. Aaliya was having her own ambitions, she wished to go to Australia for higher studies. They quarrels usually due to the difference in opinions in many matters. He was not interested in her trip to abroad as he don't want to miss her, but she had started her journey to Australia. She forcibly took a break from him and was working to achieve her dreams. At one stage, Gulati reached Australia with a hope to settle there. What happens to their goals and relationship are shown in the later portions.

There is no big story here to project, the subject is told through certain incidents and sequences happening in the matter of time. The presentation of the movie by the new director thus holds the key. Imraan and Deepika ahd performed well. The title credits shown in the new style is good, but some of them were moving fast or some other not readable (I am saying this, standing on the part of technicians). The tele-brand show that leads to the 'interval' title sequence lagged and it's necessity can also be questioned. Three persons in a row, over hearing the quarreling between the lovers and looking at them, felt unnatural due to the uniformity in the task. The director had used the method of hit songs in the situation to represent the period, which is simply good. Songs by Vishal Sekhar are not the best, it reminds their own tunes in the past. A couple of songs felt unwanted for the situation. Bg score is given by Hithesh Sonik. Cinematographer Andre Menezes had given some colorful visuals. Anand Subayya is the editor.


'Break Ke Baad' cannot be rated best among the love stories, but a regular viewer of bollywood movies can watch it...


Rating : 5.5 / 10

Lafangey Parindey

Medium : Hindi
Starring : Neil Nithin Mukesh, Deepika Padukone, Kay Kay Menon, Piyush Mishra, Manish Chowdhary
Director : Pradeep Sarkar
Music : R.Anandh, Zubin Balaporia (bg score)

Yash Raj Films, the most promising production-distribution banner in bollywood, has come up with their latest venture named 'Lafangey Parindey'. The youngest member of late singer Mukesh's family, Neil Nithin Mukesh ('Johny Gaddar', 'New York' , 'Jail' fame) and the tall heroine Deepika Padukone ('Love Aaj Kal', 'Om Shanthi Om', Karthik Calling Karthik' fame) did the lead roles. The previous venture by the producers, 'Badmaash Company' didn't do well at the box office. 'Lafangey Parindey' is being directed by Pradeep Sarkar, a former associate to Vidhu Vinod Chopra and had movies like 'Parineeta' and 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag'.

Nandu (Neil Nithin Mukesh) is a boxer who earns money by working for Usman Bhai (Piyush Mishra), who runs the under world business. His dream is to become a local gang leader like Anna (Kay Kay Menon), one day. Pinky (Deepika Padukone) is a middle class girl in the same locality, whose ambition is to become a well known dancer. She is taking effort to practice dancing on skate wheels. One day, she met with an accident and lost her eyes. Nandu trains her to overcome the blindness and to lead a normal life. She got selection to the reality show. How she achieves her dream is told in the rest of the story.

Deepika Padukone has done excellently well in the blind role. Her actions and emotions are suited well for the character. Neil Nithin Mukesh is also good as a boxer. Manish Chowdhary, who comes in the cop's role has got a natural look. Kay Kay Menon also made his job well in a small role. The scatting dance scenes are done in an extra ordinary manner. Both of them gave some incredible steps on wheels under the guidance of Sandro Guerra, an international scatting figure and choreographers Bosco-Caeser. The climax is impressive. The friendship scenes featuring the hero are also done well. Natraj Subramanyam's cinematography is good. Sanjib Datta is the editor. Other than the fast number 'dhathad dhathad..., none of the songs by R.Anandh is not impressive. Zubin Balaporia did the bg score matching the mood. Pradeep Sarkar's directorial effort to make this positive subject should be welcomed.

It should have been more interesting, had the suspense element regarding the heroine's character been revealed in the later portions only. The two versions of the story needs a big interval between them. The winning shot of the boxer with the same action all the times, should have been avoided. The hero teaching the blind girl has got a realistic look; on the other side heroine's lessons can be accepted in a cinematic way only. The affection between hero and heroine and the related incidents has got the flavor of tamil movie 'Thullatha Manamum Thullum' by Vijay and Simran.

'Lafangey Parindey' won't be the best bet; but a real lover of bollywood movies can watch this, it won't make you restless...


Rating : 7 / 10

Housefull

Medium : Hindi
Starring : Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal, Bomman Irani, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Jiah Khan
Director : Sajid Khan
Music : Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Sandep Chowta (bg)


Akshay Kumar is not enjoying successful days, as some of his recent projects like 'Blue', 'De Dena Dun', 'Kambaqt Ishq', '8 X 10 Tasweer', 'Chandni Chauk To China' etc bombed at the box office. Now he has once again chosen a comedy subject (with Ritesh Deshmukh as his partner), named 'Housefull'. It is directed by Sajid Khan ('Hey Baby' fame), the younger brother of choreographer turned director Farah Khan. Sajid Nadiadwala, the producer has also got the credit of the story of this film. It is shot in the foreign locations of London and Italy.

Aarush (Akshay Kumar), finds himself as an unlucky person. Due to this, his lover leaves him. Being frustrated, he reaches the house of his friend Bob (Ritesh Deshmukh), who stays with his wife (Lara Dutta). Bob took his friend to his work place and met the owner (Randhir Kapoor). Aarush is being impressed by the rich man and he decided to arrange his daughter's (Jiah Khan) marriage with the former. Marriage happens, but his wife went to her old lover soon, leaving Aarush. At this time, Sandy (Deepika Padukone) arrives, hearing the tragic story of Aarush, she started loving him. Bob's father-in-law (Bomman Irani) reaches abroad to see his daughter's baby. He misunderstands Aarush as his son-in-law. At the same time, Sandy's brother (Arjun Rampal) visited them to arrange her sister's marriage with Aarush. The first lover of Aarush, who left him, happened to be the elder sister of Sandy. There starts the cat and mouse game and how Aarush and Bob manages the situation, is the theme of 'Housefull'.

Though 'Housefull' is shown as a comedy subject, you don't experience big laughing here. The similar situations has been told many times in the past through films like 'All The Best', 'Hey Baby', 'No Entry', 'Garam Masala', 'De Dena Dun', 'Kaathala Kaathala' (T) etc. The confusions and misunderstandings along with the hiring of house, baby, lovers etc are the same in almost all the projects.

The first half of 'Housefull' contains many intolerable and amateur scenes. The confusions and the comic scene happening in the road in the beginning, as a result of the lover leaving the hero is not created realistically (It is shown well by Priyadarshan many times), The way in which the hero destroying the whole room using vacuum cleaner and the behavior of the the friends, affected by electric shock, shows the non professionalism of the creator. Bob's father-in-law being beaten by his mother is another area of childishness. The relevance of tiger inside the house is not communicated properly. Chunkey Pandey, who comes as the hotel owner gave a horrible performance and the scene in which he invites the media to watch the suicide of the hero is another area of wastage of time. The reason told for telling lies by all the characters are too repetitive. The lie detector equipment used by the military officer looks like a toy only and last but not the least, the climax created in Buckingham palace, where the crowd along with the Queen laughing as an effect of the nitrous oxide gas, exceeds the limit of tolerance.

Akshay Kumar did his role in his style. Ritesh Deshmukh is over acting in many areas. Arjun Rampal is serious. Deepika Padukone and Lara Dutta are charming in their outfits. Music directors Shankar Ehsaan Loy gave some fast songs. Cinematography by Vikas Sivaraman is colorful. Songs has been glamorously choreographed by Fara Khan.

The movie 'Housefull' is colorful, but it can't create a house full environment in the theaters as it is not having that much realistic laughing situations as you expect.


Rating : 4.5 / 10

Kartik Calling Karthik

Medium : Hindi
Starring : Farhan Akthar, Deepika Padukone
Director : Vijay Lalwani
Music : Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale (bg score)

It looks like, the director of big films like 'Dil Chahtha Hai', 'Lakshya' and 'Don', Farhan Akthar, has started enjoying his new job in the industry. After acted in films like 'Rock On' and 'Luck By Chance', his new film 'Kartik Calling Karthik', where he had done the lead role is released recently. Deepika Padukone, who has become a big name these days, is the heroine. Debutant Vijay Lalwani is the creator of the movie.

Kathik (Farhan Akthar) is an introvert and a shy type guy working in a construction company. His boss is always taking advantage of his non confident attitude by scolding him in public. Sonali (Deepika Padukone), who is a co-worker, doesn't even noticed that such a person is working in their firm for the last few years. Karthik has been watching Sonali and he likes her also, but fails to express his love. By this time, Karthik gets a call at his land line at home from a person claiming that he is also Karthik. Those calls, that comes daily in the morning, are like coaching class for Karthik and gradually it motivated him to change his attitude. Though he was suspended from the company before, now the boss is forced to give him re-entry with a promotion. He gets in touch with Sonali, who is being affected from a love failure and they started loving each other.

One day she says that there should not be any secrets between them as she is not fit to face a failure in her life again. Even after the caller warning him not to tell about the calls to any body, Karthik reveals this to his lover. She is not believing it, she even asked him to consult a psychiatrist. He is not willing and it caused a split in relationship between the two. The caller also becomes an enemy to Karthik and he tells that he will destroy him at any cause. Without informing, the hero decides to leave the city to a far away place so that he can escape from the caller and what happens to him in such a situation is shown in 'Kartik Calling Karthik' here after.

With such a subject, director Vijay Lalwani had tried his best to make a thrilling tempo and keep the suspense (though it was anticipated) till end. May be, we might get an idea about the caller in the beginning itself, but as the calls came in front of the doctor and the heroine, we are confused. The problem happened to the film is the area where the hero tried to escape from the city. It is a lack of confidence showed from the part of the director also. The pathos song in that portion is a booster dose for the lagging. The scene in which the hero purchasing the same type of phone with the same color in the second half should have been avoided. It will give a wrong message to the audience as they will blame the phone company in the end for the reason of these problems. Also the doctor finding the cause in the end and showing it to the heroine looks like an advertisement. The climax is not clearly presented by the director, it is doubtful whether all things are cleared or it still exists.

The film has got a good performance by Farhan Akthar and Deepika Padukone. Shankar Ehsaan Loy gave the songs in their style, none of them are catching. Background score by Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale goes with the mood. Cinematography by Sanu Varghese is rich, editor Aarti Bajaj also gave neat cuts. The variety style in the title credits of the film is related to the theme of the film, which is good.

'Kartik Calling Karthik' is a different film. It should have been a must watchable one, if the lack of stability in the second half portions are avoided.


Rating : 6 / 10

Love Aaj Kal

Medium : Hindi
Starring : Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor
Director : Imtiaz Ali
Music : Pritam, Salim Sulaiman

We have already discussed about the different trends going on in the current bollywood film arena. The canvas is big, budget is high and the release is globally these days. There is also some experimentation happening in the theme side. Some of them are good, but some others are cliches only. They always give importance to romantic subjects (some exceptions like Ramgopal Varma, Madhur Bhandarkar etc are also there). Since they are targeting the global audience, the ingredients in the film has also been changed. This is the reason why Sylvester Stallone has been placed in a guest role in Akshay Kumar's recent film. The inclusion of more intimate romantic scenes as in english films is also evident in bollywood. Now they got the reason for the story of a film happening in US or UK.


May be for an average viewer, a film starring Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan can be the main reason for watching 'Love Aaj Kal'. Any how I won't miss watching such a hindi film. But for me, the cause is different. The director of the film, Imtiaz Ali is the factor as far my interest is considered. Those who have seen 'Jab We Met'(starring Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor), which was director's previous film, will totally agree with me. The film which got released two years before was a romantic comedy that gave the real nostalgic feeling of the hindi films in the 70's and 80's. The new film is also produced by the same banner Shree Ashta Vinayak Cine Services Ltd.


In the opening scene, the development of the love affair between the hero (Saif) and the heroine (Deepika) who stays in Europe is shown. It is carried through different months and reached almost two years with in the first few minutes of the film itself. She wants to settle in India. On the other hand, he doesn't give real value for the love and he follows the western culture of romance. Then they decides to have a break down in their relationship. They have been watched by a sardarji (Rishi Kapoor), who is a restaurant owner also. He gives advice to the hero about the real value of love and the difficulties faced by him for loving a girl in his younger days. All such things are shown through a flashback. At the same time even after got splitted, the hero and the heroine can't lead a normal life. Both of them had found a new spouse of their own; whether they are satisfied in it is the area where ''Love Aaj Kal' discusses.



The main attraction lies in the treatment of the film. The flashback scenes of the film is the specialty. A new style has been developed by the director where the hero does the double role. He represents both the current and old generations. Such a contrasting characterization where the hero did the flashback character of another senior actor also felt different. But the director failed to show the deepness in the affection of the characters in the flashback and the theme is not unusual.



The film has got the flavour of films like 'Anbe Sivam' and 'Hum Dil de Chuke Sanam' in few areas. Saif, Deepika and Rishi Kapoor had done their roles well. Gisello Monteiro, who comes as the pair for Saif in flash back scenes is not a good choice. She is not flexible in the song scene also. Also Neetu Singh (Rishi's wife) who comes as her old age character in the climax shot doesn't have similarity in appearance with this young girl (it can be left un noticed saying cinematic!). Nataraj Subramanyam, the cameraman who worked for the director in his previous film, has given excellent visuals. As usual, Some peppy songs has been given by music director Pritam.


Those who are too interested in watching bollywood movies can watch 'Love Aaj Kal'. It is presented differently, but the message is same, "Love Never Fails..."


Rating : 6.5 / 10