Bollywood Movie Releases -Nov and Dec 2016

Rock On 2

Directed by Shujaat Saudagar

Produced by Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani

Written by Abhishek Kapoor, Pubali Chaudhuri

Starring : Farhan Akhtar, Shraddha Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Prachi Desai, Shashank Arora

Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Release dates:11 November 2016

Running time: 143 minutes

Tum Bin 2

Directed by Anubhav Sinha

Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Anubhav Sinha

Written by Anubhav Sinha

Starring : Neha Sharma, Aditya Seal, Aashim Gulati

Music by Ankit Tiwari & Nikhil-Vinay

Cinematography Ewan Mulligan

Release dates: 18 November 2016

Force 2

Directed by Abhinay Deo

Produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, Viacom Motion Pictures,John Abraham

Written by Parveez Shaikh, Jasmeet K. Reen

Starring John Abraham, Sonakshi Sinha, Tahir Raj Bhasin

Release dates: 18 November 2016

Dear Zindagi

Directed by Gauri Shinde

Produced by Gauri Khan, Karan Johar, Gauri Shinde

Writer and screenplay - Gauri Shinde

Starring : Shah Rukh Khan,  Alia Bhatt

Music by Amit Trivedi

Release dates: 23 November 2016 (United States); 25 November 2016 (Worldwide)

Kahani 2

Directed by Sujoy Ghosh

Produced by Sujoy Ghosh, Jayantilal Gada

Written by Sujoy Ghosh, Ritesh Shah (dialogues)

Story by Sujoy Ghosh, Suresh Nair

Starring : Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal

Music by              Clinton Cerejo

Release dates: 2 December 2016[1]

Running time: 119 minutes

Befikre

Directed by Aditya Chopra

Produced by Aditya Chopra

Screenplay and story  by Aditya Chopra; Sharat Katariya (dialogues)

Starring: Ranveer Singh, Vaani Kapoor

Music by Vishal-Shekhar

Release dates: 9 December 2016

Dangal

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari

Produced by Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Siddharth Roy Kapur

Written by Nitesh Tiwari, Piyush Gupta, Shreyas Jain, Nikhil Meharotra

Based on Mahavir Singh Phogat

Starring Aamir Khan, Sakshi Tanwar, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra

Music by Pritam Chakraborty

Release dates: December 23, 2016

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Review

The title "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" - says it all- Love is complicated and difficult, and so is the Movie!

Directed by Karan Johar

Produced by Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar

Written by Karan Johar

Starring : Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Fawad Khan

Music by Pritam

Cinematography: Anil Mehta

Release dates: 28 October 2016

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdNKsW-E_po

Genre: Romance

Review : Birjis Adeni Rashed

Rating: ***(3 /5)

(The aim and intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie when seen. But minor details have been divulged for a proper review!)

The movie makes attempts to define love in various ways- platonic, passionate, physical, pretentious gold digger kind, one sided & unrequited, heartbroken,  friendship vs love comparison.... but in spite of this exhausting exercise, love is still left unexplained!

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil has clichéd romantic configurations like other Karan Johar’s movies “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, “Kabhi Alvida na Kehna”, “Kal Ho Na Ho” and has shades, recall of dialogs, reminders and mash up of all these movies and more.   But ADHM in spite of glamorous stars, excellent acting, and beautiful cinematography falls short with its lack of fresh story becoming just an exaggerated and superficial takeoff.    

The story based in London revolves around Ayan (Ranbhir), a rich, unfocused, MBA student wanna be singer, and  Alizeh (Anoushka)  a  privileged, fun loving,  spirited girl who is always seeking life’s distractions. They meet at a pub and find they have a lot in common like their taste in tacky 80s music, fascination for living out Bollywood dream sequences,  taking off in private jets at whims and fancy,  and such, and become soulmates!  

 But things get complicated when Ayan falls in love with Alizeh while she wants to remain friends with Ayan and yearns for her Ex- Ali ( Fawad Khan). Each ones perspectives of love is different and this leads to conflict. Ali re-enters in Alizehs life and Ayan bounces off to new flame Saba (Aishwarya). Karan Johar tries to share more philosophies on love and drags the confusing saga. And to complicate the already perplexing situation with no resolution, he takes a deviant twist to the story and comes out to a disjointed conclusion!

 The characters in the movie are complex with strong emotions and all the actors give out quality performances reflecting those personalities. Ranbhir Kapoor expressively conveys a compendium of emotions to reflect his confused characters many phases and moods at the risk of even being irritating.  Anoushka’s acting skills are excellent and echoes her strong minded character. Aishwarya adds an aura of self-importance with her ethereal aloofness and mirrors the role perfectly.  Fawad Khan is not more than eye candy for his fans since his role is sadly chopped small due to recent Indo-Pak controversies.  Lost in edits, the details of love story and reasoning of passionate yearning of Alizeh for Ali are left for assumption. Lisa Hayden as the gold digger/ temporary girlfriend, provides some comic relief in the movie. Johar even introduces couple special appearances to make it glossier, if it was not enough!

The songs are the highlight of the movie and are melodious specially the title songs-Ae Dil Hai Mushkil,  Channa Mereya and  Bulleya. Cinematography across London, Paris and Vienna is good if you don’t delve in to the unrealistic jet setting reasoning.

 If you were expecting to walk out of the theater with exhilaration or poignancy or even simple satisfaction  like other Karan Johar movies, you will be disappointed.  End of this movie you are just restless and confused!

 More Audience Reactions after movie viewing in Austin, TX :

Farah said- “ It had good acting, some good songs, good looking people… but too long, and story was bakwas”

H said - “Movie is good if watched as few different segments, as a whole it doesn’t have a clear focus or main theme. And it was too long and rather confusing.”

M said- “Movie was confusing”

S said –“I just like the songs”

Tanveer said- “It has a bunch of nice looking guys and gals....all rich, bekaar, self-absorbed, and weighed down by heavy emotional baggage.…. When these worthies are not flirting, mating, or making preparations to mate, they break into old Bollywood songs. Seems like Johar is mocking and celebrating the 70s and 80s Bollywood era... all at the same time. Corny dialogues, kitschy costumes, awful sweaters, navel-baring georgette sarees and short cholis.....all are recalled for nostalgic effect…..The mating ritual keeps going but soon gets tiresome for all the players who now want to grow up. The fidgety audience is also getting tired of this mating game and wants to head home.”

You are welcome  to add your opinions and point of views  in the comments . Thank you.