Dhoom 2 – It’s ‘like’ exciting but not exhilarating!

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Uday Chopra, Bipasha Basu,
Rimi Sen


Directed by: Sanjay Gadhvi
Produced by: Aditya Chopra

Primary Audience: Young and old
Genre: Thriller
Movie Overall Rating: *** (3 star out of 5)


“Dhoom 2: Back in Action” is an exciting and entertaining sequel to Dhoom, with handsome studs with biceps, bikini babes, beautiful locales, high- flying stunts, hi-tech robberies, masterful disguises, little romance and comedy, great dance moves, but inferior songs, and finally an unrealistic plot!

This thriller is about daring heists and almost impossible thefts of rare artifacts, crown jewels, diamonds, unique coinage, carried out from Namibia to Mumbai and Rajasthan to Rio de Janeiro, by the international criminal, Mr. A, and the subsequent police chase to nab this criminal by Mumbai police ACP’s Jai Dixit, Shonali Bose and sub-inspector Ali. I guess it’s irrelevant that Mumbai police seems to have an international jurisdiction!

The movie also has the romance between the police pawn, the sexy criminal Sunheri with the brainy brawny mastermind criminal Mr. A. It has an elongated game of Russian roulette with the gun and one bullet between Ash and Hrithik and of course, not to forget the infamous kiss between them!

The movie portrays a lot of style, sophistication, good editing, but also steals from many action or crime thriller movies like Mission Impossible, Entrapment, After the Sunset & …… The first Dhoom was ‘inspired’ by Fast and Furious 1 and 2 and Ocean’s 11 which were very obvious, at least this time they made it less obvious by getting material from many sources. So, we can say it is an art to copy and put together in a different setting, and here the movie scores good points for a job done well.

Hrithik Roshan as smart, cool, athletic, sand boarding, scuba diving, parachuting, rock climbing, bungee jumping, racing, master of disguise, technically savvy thief -Mr. A steals the show. Aishwarya with her bronze tan, skimpy clothes in size 0 and American teenage act and drawl with over used ‘like’ ( “Are you like checking me out”), hip-hop- rap hairstyles & dressing ( specially in Crazy Kiya Re) as Ms Sunheri is eye-candy to guys but otherwise didn’t come out as the sharp burglar she claims to be! Abhishek Bachchan’s role gets diminished in this sequel. Except for his neat one-liners, and sometimes macho image he doesn’t do much. He should have made little more effort to avoid getting overshadowed. Bipasha Basu in double role was of course only added to this movie to add some sexy spice which she does well. Uday Chopra is fun and funny, especially with the dream sequences with imaginary wife and kids.

The music in Dhoom 2 may have rhythm and energy but the songs are bleak and weak. Except for the title number Dhoom Again, the other songs- Crazy Kiya Re, Touch Me, My Name is Ali, Dil Laga Na etc were sorry and inferior.

Dhoom2 brings together some extremely well crafted sequences -specially the first few robberies, last was shoddy; awesome stunts- all of Hrithik’s and Abhisheks; amazing disguises (statue was spectacular); excellent use of technology (in robberies and chase); breathtaking locales with exotic settings (first Hindi movie in Rio!) But alas! Content of story is shallow. A lot of whys, ifs and buts are sparked while watching the movie. Bollywood movies are getting better and better, perfection is not yet reached.

Hindi Movie- A Shortcut Recipe!

“Some Hindi Movies are to be tasted; others swallowed; and some few to be chewed and digested.”- This quote is a slight variation from Francis Bacons quote about books, but very apt to Hindi movies too. Bollywood churns out tons of movies every year, and our desi population sees it, swallows it and digests it all. Of course some are very tasteful, while some cause an upset stomach, other few are placed on the connoisseurs banquet.

Bollywood is the largest film industry in the world in terms of the number of movies it makes. About 800 to 900 movies are made in India per year; almost twice the number Hollywood produces annually. By the way, after Bombay to Mumbai, shouldn’t ‘Bollywood’ be called as ‘Mollywood’or whatever! In order to retain their world record, the Bollywood industry has made an easy formula, or a short cut recipe for movie making.

Bollywood has ‘Productized’ the Movies - Technically ‘‘productized’’ and ‘patternized’ is nothing but films built further from a pre-made product. Here almost every thing is pre-made and ready; the directors just has to shake it and bake it! Of course he adds some songs for seasoning, a pinch of melodrama and a dash of heroism! Movies keep repeating the theme and style of a successful movie hoping for another success! But same chicken recipe with a different garnishing doesn’t make it different and old wine in new bottles doesn’t necessarily sell. Since the success of ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ and ‘Hum Apke Hain Koan’ there have been many movies with the large joint families in their movies. Yes, some were successful like ‘Dilwale Dulhani Le Jainge’ but some others like Hum Saath Saath Hain were pathetic flops. Alokh Naath and Reema Lagoo are typecast as parents, while Anupam Kher is the stereotyped uncle who is always a friend to the hero or heroine. Johny Lever has perpetual presence to add comic. The wedding setting and mehndi song is one more essential part of the total pre- packaged product of the film. For your record, if you list all the movies you saw recently, arguably you will have plenty with the same ‘formula’.

Another shortcut recipe used by our Bollywood guys is aping the Hollywood movie. Sometimes the length of the Hindi movie even covers scripts of two English movies. Of course to this is added the pre-packed ‘Movie Masala’ just like the ‘Shaan Tandoori Masala’ or ‘MTR Chaat Masala’, ready to be added to almost every movie! Next time you see an English movie, think if you can fit in our Bollywood actors in the respective roles of the movie, for example Preity Zinta as Drew Barrymore, Aishwarya as Julia Roberts, Kareena Kapoor as Alicia Silverstone, Govinda as Jim Carrey, Hrithik Roshan as Brad Pitt, Sharukh Khan as Tom Cruise, Amitabh Bachan as Sean Connery or various other possibilities and ‘Indianize’ it a little and imagine and play it in your mind. If you succeeded, you have predicted the next movie in the making in Bollywood!

But there are some exceptions to this industries output. Recently some excellent movies were made which have individuality and character- Lagaan, an Oscar nominated movie, which also has become a case study in Indian Institute of Management for leadership and team building skills; Dil Chahtha Hai, a new generation movie for the educated audiences; Zubaida, a classic story with excellent performances; Astitva, a woman’s struggle to make an identity of herself; Aks, a lift from ‘Face off’, but handled surprisingly well for Indian audiences; Ajnabee, a Hollywood remake of ‘Consenting Adults’ without the typical masala and ABCD, an American Born Confused Desi’s impasse lifestyle; to state a few, which have carved an identity of its own.

The Hindi movies seem to be gradually evolving from this masala business into more individualist entities, with deeper content and closer to life themes. Lets just hope our desi audience grows out of savoring the ‘ghisipiti’ recipe and we get to see more beautiful and tasteful movies ahead.

Also on http://www.sawf.org/bollywood/opinions/hindimrecipes.asp?pn=Bollywood&cn=7

Hindi Movie- A Life Style!

-Zindagi, Ek Safar, Hai Suhana… - Zindagi Ka Safar, Hai Yeh Kaisa Safar… - Zindagi, kaisee hai paheli haye… - Ai Zindagi, Gale Laga Le…- Zindagi, Zindagi, Zindagi, Jab Tumko Dekha Hai… -…Meri Zindagi Mein Ajnabee Ka Intezaar Hai…-… Zindagi, Bangaye Ho Tum.

The melodrama of Hindi movies has eternally been part of our life. Almost every one of us have been crooning the lyrics in various stages and emotions of life –“Zindagi Ka Safar”. The songs, the movies and the filmy crap, have been a strong influence on us desis. An essential part of our psyche and the way we think and act revolves to some extent on Hindi movies. Television with many cable networks, Star Plus, Sony, Zee TV, playing soap operas and serials all through the day may come close, but Hindi movie is unbeatable in its reach!

The glamour and glitz of Bollywood movies has dazzled and influenced Indian audiences since time immemorial. People copy fashions and fads from the movies- hairstyles, clothes, and accessories. They even talk the talk and walk the walk. But the extent of influence goes beyond the obvious. The affect of Hindi movies on desi minds is such that, they faithfully believe and follow many of the exaggerated ‘filmi’ concepts. The flirting patterns to gain the love of their life; the filmy concept of beautiful; the image of the hero as the perfect paragon; are some notions, which get impressed and engraved on people’s minds. Of course there are many more concepts advertised and marketed through Hindi films, which trickle down to all the audiences.


In the US, most Indians and Pakistanis find the Bollywood entertainment as the best weekend past time. It binds people together as a social get-away to the movie theatre or as a dinner and movie get-together. The women check latest fashions in the movie; guys check the hourglass figures; the young ones love the songs and dances. Of course for all of them it’s a 3-hour recap to homeland, traditions, culture and even the roads and life back home. Parents too encourage ABCD kids to watch Hindi movies since this is the one Indian link that they can easily ‘impose’ on their kids.

There are a few exceptions to this generalization of undaunted love for Hindi movies. There are some Indian ‘elites’ (read as ‘snobs’ by many people) who cannot stand the Indian movies. Their major problems with the Indian movies seem to be about the song and dance sequences and the concept of love.

Songs and music are great anchors to a Hindi movie. People forget the stories, but the songs become eternal in peoples minds and their audio collections. The songs repeated on TV, radio, CD players, car stereos and even people’s lips while playing a game of antakshari jogs in memories for a long time. Besides popular love and wedding songs, which form the background music to desi wedding cassettes, are carved for life in people’s hearts.

The songs came into movies from stage plays. Hollywood also has a category called musicals. Musicals are far and few now, but they still exist. Indian movies though have not been able to evolve out of this and may never will. The major reason being, songs are a great anchor to the Hindi movies, and are an Industry on its own. The songs in Hindi movies also provide a flamboyant way of expressing emotions, be it love between the hero and heroine, or anger at the villain, dismay at the gods, self pompousness of the hero or just having fun.

Now coming to the concept of love in the Hindi movie- The hypothesis of Love in Hindi movies revolves around boy sees girl and falls in love; sings and dances around the tree; saves her from the goons or uses emotional blackmail to win her love. Some day love may be portrayed in a more beautiful and realistic way, but this product has been sold and will keep selling to ‘desis’ for a long time till there are fantasizers, believers and even emulators to this concept of love. Till then, for the rest of us there is always the fast forward key on our remotes.

Hindi movies have always been larger than life, in spite of it being an element of our lives. Lets just keep it that way and not live life ‘Filmi’ style.



Also on : http://www.sawf.org/bollywood/opinions/hindimovies.asp?pn=Bollywood&cn=6

Veer Zaara- a beautiful romance across borders.

Director: Yash Chopra
Producer: Yash Raj Films
Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukherjee
Supporting Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Manoj Bajpai, Hema Malini
Music: Late Madan Mohan
Lyrics: Javed Akthar

Length: 3hrs 12mins
Primary Audience: family entertainment
Genre: Drama
Movie Overall Rating: *** (3 star out of 5)


Disclaimer – I have tried to give as less about the movie as possible but for a proper review, I may need to divulge some movie scenes. If you have not watched it and would like to go with an open mind, stop reading this right now.


“Veer Zaara” – a beautiful romance across borders. Veer-Zaara is similar to most other Hindi movies but it is not at the same time. How is it different? For starters, it handles the Indo-Pak relationship very differently from the post-Ghadar era. It carries it sensitively and graciously.

The directors wanted to please both Indians and Pakistanis. And they did. This movie was released around the time of the festival of Diwali and Ramadan Eid, and crowds went in large numbers to see this movie. I saw people enjoying at ease the romance, the melodrama, the emotions, the sentimental scenes and the beautiful backgrounds and getting in to the soul of the movie. (The sub-continental diaspora who make a large audience outside of India loved it more because it didn’t have the jingoism one has seen lately in the post - Ghadar movies which had caused many uncomfortable viewing.)

The other thing that strikes about this movie is, that this may be among few new Hindi movies, which do not depend on titillations or skin to sell. It is clean entertainment suitable for the whole family to watch together.

On the regular side, this movie is similar to several other India movie stories especially Shahrukh Khan movies such as “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” where boy meets girl, falls in love and girl has to get married to the parents choice and boy comes back to secure her. Then there is trouble. VEER-ZAARA is the story of an Indian man, Veer Pratap Singh (Shah Rukh Khan) and a Pakistani woman, Zaara Hayaat Khan (Preity Zinta) who meet and fall in love, but parental interference and jealous fiancés conspiracy stalls their love story for 22 years till Sammiya Khan (Rani Mukerjee) unearths it.

This Yash chopra movie brings back some classic memories too. There is a distinct reminder of Amitabh and Rakhee in Kabhi-Kabhi during Veer Pratap’s last meeting with Zaara. In fact, some of words may be exactly the same!

The acting by every one in the movie is excellent. Sharukh Khan, Preity Zinta and
Rani Mukerjee steal the show. SRK enacts both the younger and older roles very well. Preity looks and acts beautifully as a Pakistani girl. The role for Rani Mukerjee of Saamiya Khan is quite unique. In most Hindi movies, there is some family connection of a person helping out another person. In this case, it is shown purely as humanitarian
effort, a local lawyer representing the Human Rights Commission undertakes the challenge of fighting for Veer Pratap Singh so he can return to India. I believe this role is based on Asma Jehangir, the human rights lawyer from Pakistan.


But all other actors are equally impressive. Anupam Kher does a splendid performance. It is so refreshing to watch him as something other than the cool-encouraging father he is made out to be in every movie. Amitabh is his usual great (Its quite surprising how the industry has evolved with good roles for great senior actors like him, or earlier he was stuck playing romantic roles dancing with younger heroines or compromise and get into the supporting actors rut. But Bollywood too has evolved to a higher understanding, and he plays comparable roles like Sean Connery’s, Bollywood style.). Hema seems little wasted for this role, but she does a great job. I guess we are beyond Dharmendra-Hema phase, now we are in Amit-Hema phase. Manoj Bajpai has a great screen presence for the short role, but looks more from Hyderabad, India with his Sherwani, if not from Lahore, Pakistan.

Chopra is a great storyteller but some twists and turns could be handled better. The director could have done a better job at having SRK contemplate his choice more before accepting the conditions of his interrogators. If you remember the Hollywood pop classic 'Splash', this is nearly the same choice that Tom Hank's character has to make; to give up his identity and leave his work to go with the mermaid. But here Tom does it for being with his love, in SRK’s case, it is even a tougher decision of giving up his love for a life in jail and it was handled very quickly. SRK shows no anxiety at all, very self less. (or probably they edited it to make the already three and half hour movie short!). The movie could have transcended more culturally if they had used real Pakistani actors to portray some of the Pakistani roles, of course not Zinta’s and the two Khers.

But in spite of the great script and strong cast and soulful dialogues, I had a few unanswered questions in my mind in the movie:

* How does Saamiya Khan know Veer Pratap Singh’s name when she
addresses SRK. All the while he is known as Qaidi 786 or Rakesh Rathore –the conspiracy which was nailed to him! (By the way the obsession with 786 in India movies will I guess always remain, remember Deewar (old))
* Why are the love stories in Hindi movies about the boy from India and girl
from Pakistan. Would it be really screwed if it were the other way around?
* Does Pakistan have such stories as Henna, Ghadar, Deewar (new)
* Why are there so many bus accidents on the way from Pakistan to India? Maybe it is because of that Afghani hashish that these drivers are known to consume.

The bus accidents surprisingly have a critical role in bringing Veer-Zaara together; the first time they meet is after she has a bus accident. While the second accident even though not Raza Shirazi’s conspiracy (which if it had been would have unnecessary anguish) was the cause of Zinta’s decision for her life ahead…

Veer Zaara -a beautiful movie with heart and soul. A love, which lasts the test of time. And worth the three and half hours of our lives too!

Bride and Prejudice - A Bollywood Jane Austen!

Director: Gurinder Chadha
Cast: Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Anupam Kher, Namrata Shirodkar, Naveen Andrews, Nadira Babbar, Meghana Kothari, Peeya Rai Choudhray, Indira Verma, Daniel Gillies

Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama; Based on a Book
Movie Overall Rating: ***** (2 star out of 5)

Gurinder Chadha (Bend it like Beckham’s director) made a reinvigorating effort with the classic Jane Austen novel- “Pride and Prejudice”. She reworked its script to Bollywood style and set it globally in Amritsar, Goa, London and Los Angles. The Novel had been adapted to an Indian setting before for an Indian TV soap called ‘Trishna’. But here Chadha moves the story across the seas and changes the conflicts of social status as in the novel, to cross culture disputes in the movie.

The Bennets here are the Bakshis. The father of no great means and four daughters is played by the talented Anupam kher. The popular stage actor Nadira Babbar plays the overbearing and intrusive mother. Mrs. Bakshi’s sole aim here is finding appropriate suitors for her daughters. The daughters Jane, is Jaya (played by Namrata Shirodkar who looks charming despite the little makeup and simpler outfits, to probably not overshadow Aishwarya); Elizabeth or Lizzy, is Lalitha played by the beautiful Aishwarya Rai; Lydia, is the promiscuous Lucky; and Mary, is Maya.

Mr. Bingley is a British Indian Balraj (Naveen Andrews) who has come down from London for a friend’s wedding. He finds himself being appeased by all since he is the most eligible bachelor in town. Will Darcy (Martin Henderson) is an American hotelier who has accompanied Balraj for the India trip to add a luxury hotel in India to his chain. The other prominent characters, Mr. Collins here is Mr. Kholi, the ill-mannered hilarious businessman from LA visiting India to seek a beautiful wife. Johnny Wickham (Daniel Gillies) is the shady, free spirited backpacker who flirts with both Lalitha and Lucky.

Bride and Prejudice can be called a romantic comedy, which picks the substance of the novel, highlights certain aspects and certain characters. And still makes it entertaining. (No movie of course can justify any book). If Austen’s novel had sharp and incisive satire, bright and witty humor; Chadha comes up with wit and verve and many laugh-out-loud funny moments. (The witty repartees intermittently in the movie made an old American gentleman in the front seats consistently laugh, which made my friend think it was sound effects/ applause factor in the movie!)

The movie has flamboyant and lavish settings, bright colors and a lot of music. The movie looks like any Bollywood masala movie except for the conversations and songs being in the English language! The song and dance numbers were fun; it had bhangra, dandia, pop, and gospel singing. All songs except for one were in English. The most hilarious scene, though common in many Hindi movies and unexpected in this one, was the song with Aishwarya and Henderson dancing among fountains and on the beach, with lifeguards and surfers popping in chorus in the background. Hollywood movie audiences surely get an education in Bollywood cinema!

The story has some inadequacies too:
1. The lack of chemistry and attraction between the lead pair Henderson and Aishwarya makes the romance looks pretentious. The other pair Naveen and Namrata probably showed more attraction in the few scenes they got.
2. Aishwarya Rai in spite of her beauty and charm couldn’t hide her conscious awareness that she was acting in an English movie with an American actor. Her acting seemed put on!
3. Henderson looks uneasy and uncomfortable in some scenes too, but his discomfort could be excused as culture shock.
4. The other characters in the movie had smaller roles compared to the lead pair. Chadha doesn’t go deep into any of Austen’s characters, even the lead pair. But of course a movie can’t accomplish the whole book in 2 hours.
5. America and American culture bashing by Lalitha was uncalled for. One can praise one’s country without being disdainful of the others.

The movie scores good points for:
1. Chadha’s choice of Indian setting. It is appropriate, because arranged marriage is still a norm in this country and the conventions of Jane Austen’s novel apply brilliantly here.
2. The brilliant casting of the hilarious Nitin Ganatra, who played a great role as the fumbling Mr. Kholi; Nadira Babbar as Mrs. Bakshi who brought great life to her character.
3. The handling of the scene where Chandra (Sonali Kulkarni) gives her practical reasoning for accepting Mr. Kholi’s proposal on the rebound.
4. The flamboyant settings and vibrant kaleidoscope of colors, elephants and all add spice to the movie.
Bride and Prejudice can be called an entertaining movie!