Movie: Raaz 3
Director:Vikram Bhatt
Cast: Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta
Erotica, human drama, gorgeous ladies, and Emraan Hashmi—Raaz 3 has all the elements that go in the making of an archetypal Vikram Bhatt horror film.
A superstar with her career on a downward spiral, Shanaya (Bipasha Basu) cannot stand the success of new star-on-the-block Sanjana (Esha Gupta). Insecure and weighed down by a childhood grudge (the two actresses are step-sisters), Shanaya is unable to bear history repeating itself.
In Shanaya’s mentally unstable mind, Sanjana is the cause of her lost childhood, and is now threatening her career. She meets Tara Dutt (Manish Chaudhary) who calls himself a spirit “na is paar, na uss paar”. A black magic expert, he tells Shanaya that her problems can be solved.
Shanaya ropes in unwilling boyfriend Aditya (Emraan Hashmi) to help her. Together, they play this deadly game against the unsuspecting Sanjana.
The film delves into the insecurities that come along with a showbiz career. However, it’s a highly dramatized, even if entertaining, portrayal.
The horror element is present, but is not overboard. More thrills than chills, it’ll have you genuinely scared only in a couple of scenes. The other scenes are the kind that’ll have you let out nervous laughter. There is the usual paraphernalia of candles, flowing curtains, echoing laughter, talks of spirits, strong religious overtones, and a tantrik.
The use of dark imagery and symbolism is very interesting. For example, you have the evil spirit in human form nestled in murky water full of trash. Again, the visualization of the good spirit imprisoned in a water-filled room (signifying the source of the magic) is superb.
The 3D quality is excellent and the use is surprisingly subtle. The scene where a character has to deal with creepy-crawlies is the film’s highlight.
The characters in typical Bhatt style are contemporary but perplexingly speak in an archaic tone. So you have these young characters use words like talluk, veham and haqueekat. Again in portions that require an extreme response, all Emraan’s character can come up with is, “this is really stupid.” These scenes are unintentionally hilarious.
Bipasha Basu excels as the unstable Shanaya. Despite the character being downright evil, she manages to bring a hint of vulnerability to the performance. Interestingly, she thinks of herself as the victim and in her own head has justified her deeds believing that “she has no choice”. Esha Gupta is awkward as the film starts but manages a fairly impressive performance. Emraan Hashmi gives a weak performance and gamely lets the ladies take center-stage.
Director Vikram Bhatt (1920, Haunted-3D) makes a horror film that’s unapologetically formulaic, but adds in newer elements like the grey characters, unusual imagery, and understated 3D usage.
Worth a watch for the thrills and chills and bravura performances by the ladies!
Rating: Three stars
Director:Vikram Bhatt
Cast: Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta
Erotica, human drama, gorgeous ladies, and Emraan Hashmi—Raaz 3 has all the elements that go in the making of an archetypal Vikram Bhatt horror film.
A superstar with her career on a downward spiral, Shanaya (Bipasha Basu) cannot stand the success of new star-on-the-block Sanjana (Esha Gupta). Insecure and weighed down by a childhood grudge (the two actresses are step-sisters), Shanaya is unable to bear history repeating itself.
In Shanaya’s mentally unstable mind, Sanjana is the cause of her lost childhood, and is now threatening her career. She meets Tara Dutt (Manish Chaudhary) who calls himself a spirit “na is paar, na uss paar”. A black magic expert, he tells Shanaya that her problems can be solved.
Shanaya ropes in unwilling boyfriend Aditya (Emraan Hashmi) to help her. Together, they play this deadly game against the unsuspecting Sanjana.
The film delves into the insecurities that come along with a showbiz career. However, it’s a highly dramatized, even if entertaining, portrayal.
The horror element is present, but is not overboard. More thrills than chills, it’ll have you genuinely scared only in a couple of scenes. The other scenes are the kind that’ll have you let out nervous laughter. There is the usual paraphernalia of candles, flowing curtains, echoing laughter, talks of spirits, strong religious overtones, and a tantrik.
The use of dark imagery and symbolism is very interesting. For example, you have the evil spirit in human form nestled in murky water full of trash. Again, the visualization of the good spirit imprisoned in a water-filled room (signifying the source of the magic) is superb.
The 3D quality is excellent and the use is surprisingly subtle. The scene where a character has to deal with creepy-crawlies is the film’s highlight.
The characters in typical Bhatt style are contemporary but perplexingly speak in an archaic tone. So you have these young characters use words like talluk, veham and haqueekat. Again in portions that require an extreme response, all Emraan’s character can come up with is, “this is really stupid.” These scenes are unintentionally hilarious.
Bipasha Basu excels as the unstable Shanaya. Despite the character being downright evil, she manages to bring a hint of vulnerability to the performance. Interestingly, she thinks of herself as the victim and in her own head has justified her deeds believing that “she has no choice”. Esha Gupta is awkward as the film starts but manages a fairly impressive performance. Emraan Hashmi gives a weak performance and gamely lets the ladies take center-stage.
Director Vikram Bhatt (1920, Haunted-3D) makes a horror film that’s unapologetically formulaic, but adds in newer elements like the grey characters, unusual imagery, and understated 3D usage.
Worth a watch for the thrills and chills and bravura performances by the ladies!
Rating: Three stars
Movie: Joker
Director: Shirish Kunder
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala, Farah Khan
Music: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Minisha Lamba, Shreyas Talpade
Cast: G. V. Prakash Kumar, Gaurav Dagaonkar
Here's a film that had great potential for an equal measure of comedy and drama. What could have been a delightful, fantastical fable turns out to be a damp squib full of flat jokes.
Circa 1947: When the maps of India and Pakistan were being drawn, an oversight ensured that the village of Paglapur didn't find a place in either country.
The village had the distinction of housing the largest mental asylum in the region and in the melee that ensued during Partition, the asylum inmates broke loose, drove away the villagers and established their own republic in Paglapur.
And that's how it stayed for the next 60 years! While the world outside changed, Paglapur remained isolated.
Tides turn when, when Agastya (Akshay Kumar) and wife (Sonakshi Sinha) arrive in the village. Agastya is working on a top secret project for creating a device to communicate with aliens.
When he tries to better the life of the villagers and solve the water crisis, he is shunted from one government office to the other. Agastya begins to think of ways to put his village back on the map, even if it means involving aliens.
The humour is poor. Why would you laugh at a man who speaks gibberish, another who thinks he is a lamp post and everyone else who think Mahatma Gandhi is still around, fighting for independence? Apart from being impolite and objectionable, these gags are simply not funny!
Then there are other jokes like Akshay's character calling UFOs an "udta, phirta omelette" or the sentence "Humaara mazaak mat udaao" is translated literally as 'don't fly our jokes'.
While one admires that Kunder has kept the comedy clean and devoid of vulgarity, it does not excuse the comedy turning bland.
Writer-editor–director Shirish Kunder (Jaan-E-Mann) makes a film that probably sounded better on paper. The film, touted as India's first extra terrestrial comedy, falls flat and doesn't deliver its promise.
If you're planning to take the kids for the novelty of seeing an alien movie, please keep in mind that the aliens aren't as interesting as they should have been.
The portion where an alien shakes a leg to songs could have been so adorable, but here it's just garish.
What works for the film is the lead pair. Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha are great sports and play along with the bizarre script. Their chemistry is the highlight of the film.
Akshay does well, but dialogue-based comedy is not his forte.
Sonakshi looks ravishing and has the familiar likeable screen presence that the audience loved in Dabangg.
Another thing that elevates the film are the lavishly choreographed songs, especially the I Want Fakht You song picturised on Chitrangada Singh.
An extra-terrestrial film sounded interesting. One wishes the film was as fun as the core idea!
Rating: 1.5 stars
Director: Shirish Kunder
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala, Farah Khan
Music: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Minisha Lamba, Shreyas Talpade
Cast: G. V. Prakash Kumar, Gaurav Dagaonkar
Here's a film that had great potential for an equal measure of comedy and drama. What could have been a delightful, fantastical fable turns out to be a damp squib full of flat jokes.
Circa 1947: When the maps of India and Pakistan were being drawn, an oversight ensured that the village of Paglapur didn't find a place in either country.
The village had the distinction of housing the largest mental asylum in the region and in the melee that ensued during Partition, the asylum inmates broke loose, drove away the villagers and established their own republic in Paglapur.
And that's how it stayed for the next 60 years! While the world outside changed, Paglapur remained isolated.
Tides turn when, when Agastya (Akshay Kumar) and wife (Sonakshi Sinha) arrive in the village. Agastya is working on a top secret project for creating a device to communicate with aliens.
When he tries to better the life of the villagers and solve the water crisis, he is shunted from one government office to the other. Agastya begins to think of ways to put his village back on the map, even if it means involving aliens.
The humour is poor. Why would you laugh at a man who speaks gibberish, another who thinks he is a lamp post and everyone else who think Mahatma Gandhi is still around, fighting for independence? Apart from being impolite and objectionable, these gags are simply not funny!
Then there are other jokes like Akshay's character calling UFOs an "udta, phirta omelette" or the sentence "Humaara mazaak mat udaao" is translated literally as 'don't fly our jokes'.
While one admires that Kunder has kept the comedy clean and devoid of vulgarity, it does not excuse the comedy turning bland.
Writer-editor–director Shirish Kunder (Jaan-E-Mann) makes a film that probably sounded better on paper. The film, touted as India's first extra terrestrial comedy, falls flat and doesn't deliver its promise.
If you're planning to take the kids for the novelty of seeing an alien movie, please keep in mind that the aliens aren't as interesting as they should have been.
The portion where an alien shakes a leg to songs could have been so adorable, but here it's just garish.
What works for the film is the lead pair. Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha are great sports and play along with the bizarre script. Their chemistry is the highlight of the film.
Akshay does well, but dialogue-based comedy is not his forte.
Sonakshi looks ravishing and has the familiar likeable screen presence that the audience loved in Dabangg.
Another thing that elevates the film are the lavishly choreographed songs, especially the I Want Fakht You song picturised on Chitrangada Singh.
An extra-terrestrial film sounded interesting. One wishes the film was as fun as the core idea!
Rating: 1.5 stars
Movie: Ek Tha Tiger
Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ranvir Shorey
For an action film, Ek Tha Tiger is surprising subtle; unexpectedly sweet. The romance is old-worldly with the hero-heroine exchanging timid, hesitant hugs instead of passionate kisses. Their conversations hold weight, and we cannot help but take their romance seriously.
‘Out of more than 200 countries in the world, why did you fall in love with a Pakistani,’ thunders Shenoy (Girish Karnad) to his protégé RAW agent Tiger (Salman Khan). You see, this workaholic of an agent has done the unthinkable—asked for a desk job after doing field work continuously for 12 years. This had something to do with the last mission he went to. The Tiger got tamed and fell in love with a Pakistani girl.
Flashback to the last mission: In order to get close to his subject—a whimsical university professor in London, Tiger befriends his home caretaker and dance student Zoya (Katrina Kaif).
Finding him a bit square, Zoya calls him a “kaddu”, and asks him to “get a little cooler” for a night-out with friends. He complies, ditching the coat for a jacket, and she appreciates the gesture. As their endearing friendship develops into a romance, we see the sights-and-sounds of London—its wonderful street culture and eccentricities.
The humour is understated, most evident when Salman’s character takes a self-deprecating dig at the name Tiger. And the scene involving a chase and a complicated door knob.
The film is a treat for fans of the stars. Salman Khan oozes charm and that inexplicable star quality throughout. Perhaps it has to do with a certain vulnerability and humour he brings in, even for regular, dry action scenes. The styling works and this is the best he has looked in a long time. Katrina has an interesting, meaty role as well, and the actress impresses with her earnest performance. She excels in the challenging action scenes, and is evocative in the emotional ones. Plus she’s looking like a zillion bucks throughout.
The film is technically proficient. The moody cinematography and dexterous editing are commendable. The songs are pretty good as well.
Director Kabir Khan, deviates from the trend of making content-heavy films to come up with one that’s light and airy. The film’s simplicity (the story can be capsuled in a single sentence), is refreshing and that is its biggest strength. It is to the credit of the makers, that they’ve kept the lines clean, and not gotten into self-indulgent sub-plots and a plethora of extraneous characters. Neither does it fall into the item-number trap that many commercial “family films” fall into.
Kabir Khan’s storytelling is sure-footed and he manages to tell the story intelligently without compromising on the film’s entertainment value. While many have pre-booked their tickets for the film, there are still a sizeable number of fence-sitters who are in no mood to revisit a Wanted or Bodyguard—a brand of films that has become synonymous with Salman.
Rest assured, this is the kind of film that doesn’t get into the high or low-brow argument. It’s a simple story, told with conviction and with enough star-value and action to keep everyone happy. Go for it!
Rating: 3.5 stars
Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ranvir Shorey
For an action film, Ek Tha Tiger is surprising subtle; unexpectedly sweet. The romance is old-worldly with the hero-heroine exchanging timid, hesitant hugs instead of passionate kisses. Their conversations hold weight, and we cannot help but take their romance seriously.
‘Out of more than 200 countries in the world, why did you fall in love with a Pakistani,’ thunders Shenoy (Girish Karnad) to his protégé RAW agent Tiger (Salman Khan). You see, this workaholic of an agent has done the unthinkable—asked for a desk job after doing field work continuously for 12 years. This had something to do with the last mission he went to. The Tiger got tamed and fell in love with a Pakistani girl.
Flashback to the last mission: In order to get close to his subject—a whimsical university professor in London, Tiger befriends his home caretaker and dance student Zoya (Katrina Kaif).
Finding him a bit square, Zoya calls him a “kaddu”, and asks him to “get a little cooler” for a night-out with friends. He complies, ditching the coat for a jacket, and she appreciates the gesture. As their endearing friendship develops into a romance, we see the sights-and-sounds of London—its wonderful street culture and eccentricities.
The humour is understated, most evident when Salman’s character takes a self-deprecating dig at the name Tiger. And the scene involving a chase and a complicated door knob.
The film is a treat for fans of the stars. Salman Khan oozes charm and that inexplicable star quality throughout. Perhaps it has to do with a certain vulnerability and humour he brings in, even for regular, dry action scenes. The styling works and this is the best he has looked in a long time. Katrina has an interesting, meaty role as well, and the actress impresses with her earnest performance. She excels in the challenging action scenes, and is evocative in the emotional ones. Plus she’s looking like a zillion bucks throughout.
The film is technically proficient. The moody cinematography and dexterous editing are commendable. The songs are pretty good as well.
Director Kabir Khan, deviates from the trend of making content-heavy films to come up with one that’s light and airy. The film’s simplicity (the story can be capsuled in a single sentence), is refreshing and that is its biggest strength. It is to the credit of the makers, that they’ve kept the lines clean, and not gotten into self-indulgent sub-plots and a plethora of extraneous characters. Neither does it fall into the item-number trap that many commercial “family films” fall into.
Kabir Khan’s storytelling is sure-footed and he manages to tell the story intelligently without compromising on the film’s entertainment value. While many have pre-booked their tickets for the film, there are still a sizeable number of fence-sitters who are in no mood to revisit a Wanted or Bodyguard—a brand of films that has become synonymous with Salman.
Rest assured, this is the kind of film that doesn’t get into the high or low-brow argument. It’s a simple story, told with conviction and with enough star-value and action to keep everyone happy. Go for it!
Rating: 3.5 stars
