Bollywood Movie Releases - March 2014

Queen

Cast: Kangna Ranaut,  Rajkummar Rao, Lisa Haydon, Mish Boyko, Jeffrey Chee Eng Ho, Marco Canadea, Guithob Joseph, Adri Doppenberg
Producers: Anurag Kashyap , Vikramaditya Motwane
Director: Vikas Bahl
Story and Screenplay: Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar, Parveez Sheikh
Dialogues: Anvita Dutt, Kangna Ranaut
Music Director: Amit Trivedi
Genre: Comedy, Romance/Drama
Rating: ****
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGC6vl3lzf0
Review:  http://www.bollywoodfilmcritic.blogspot.com/2014/03/queen-surprisingly-charming-movie.html


   

  Gulab Gang

Cast:  Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla
Director:  Soumik Sen
Producers: Anubhav Sinha, Abhinay Deo
Writers: Soumik Sen, Anubhav Sinha
Music :    Soumik Sen
Release date: 7 March 2014
Genre:  Social Drama (based on a true story!)
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAcN8RR3Ry4

Total Siyapaa

 

Cast: Ali Zafar, Yami Gautam, Anupam Kher, Kiron Kher
Director: E. Nivas
Producers: Neeraj Pandey, Shital Bhatia
Writer:     Neeraj Pandey
Story :    Rules Shankarr
Music:     Ali Zafar
Release date:     7 March 2014
Genre:  Romantic comedy
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXgVgSdU7ko

 

Bewakoofiyaan

Cast : Ayushmann Khurrana, Sonam Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor
Director:  Nupur Asthana
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Story : Habib Faisal
Music : Raghu Dixit
Background Score: Hitesh Sonik
Release date:   14 March 2014
Genre: Romantic Comedy

Youngistaan

Cast: Jackky Bhagnani, Neha Sharma, Farooq Sheikh, Kayoze Irani
Director: Syed Ahmad Afzal
Release dates   28 March 2014
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el5n252fAsg
Genre: Drama

Dishkiyon

Cast: Sunny Deol, Harman Baweja, Ayesha Khanna, Prashant Narayanan, Aditya Pancholi Director: Sanamjit Singh Talwar
Producers: Shilpa Shetty, Sunil Lulla Music : Palash Muchhal
Release date: 28 March 2014
Genre: Action
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1fhdUuoBAI

Queen – Surprisingly a Charming Movie!

Cast: Kangna Ranaut,  Rajkummar Rao, Lisa Haydon, Mish Boyko, Jeffrey Chee Eng Ho, Marco Canadea, Guithob Joseph, Adri Doppenberg
Producers: Anurag Kashyap , Vikramaditya Motwane
Director: Vikas Bahl
Story and Screenplay: Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar, Parveez Sheikh
Dialogues: Anvita Dutt, Kangna Ranaut
Music Director: Amit Trivedi
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Parental Guidance: pole dancing, visit to kinky store, no explicit scenes,but some chatter about it.
Rating: ****
Review: Birjis Adeni Rashed

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGC6vl3lzf0

(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!)

When I least expected, I saw a lovely, well made candid movie with excellent performances and charming story of self discovery.  Irrespective of never liking Kangna Ranaut  or her performances in any of her previous movies, I was surprised to have enjoyed and liked her and her character of Raani/Queen’s  lovely progression from a naïve, insecure, simple girl to a strong,  astute, self-confident  woman!  It’s a delightful chick flick, romantic comedy and ‘feel good’ movie worth watching.

Story starts  off with  simple and shy Raani, daughter of  Halvai ( sweet shop owner)  of  middle class  Delhi family  getting dumped by her London- return condescending  fiancé couple of days before the wedding.  To escape the rejection and the desire to fulfill at least her dreams of a trip to Paris and Amsterdam, she sets off on her honeymoon trip alone!

 Besides Kangnas’ acting, the director Vikas  Bahl  amazingly captures the stages of Raani’s  insecure shyness to her confidence and strength through  her clothes,  her body language, her actions and decisions.  Her metamorphosis is slow and realistic and not a dramatic transformation, which makes the story more endearing and legit.

Her  adventures and  mis-adventures,  interesting  moments, conversations, subtle comedy,   tiny details, comical situations, and  characteristic  ‘desi’ practicality of the quirky  character, all are refreshing.   The movie has episodes of many subtle incidents which reflect small details of the character. Example, even in the happiest frenzy of mimicking others who are dancing and peeling   and throwing off jackets,  Raani   peels off her sweater and   instead of throwing  prefers to stuff it into her purse, which she is holding on to while dancing!;   Her innocent notion  that  Indians are good at kissing because actor Emraan Hashmi does it well in his movies!;  or her naivety  for shopping  in a kinky store for  travel souvenirs  in Amsterdam! ;  her desire to add red chilies and ginger garlic to Italian pasta;  her explanation  to the French guy, that the  French toast  she made  is Indian French toast!; Her  cool and confident stride out  of Airport   in a ‘made in India’ sleeveless kurti bought in Paris shows her transformation  but  yet in the boundaries  of traditions!

Besides Kangana’s  brilliant performance,  the movie’s  supporting cast is equally excellent. Lisa Haydon as Sexy Vijaya Lakshmi  carves her performance into the story. The Italian flirtatious restaurateur, the cute  Japanese, Russian and French  roomie’s at Amsterdam’s hostel , the  fiancé Vijay who acts like a jerk(Raj kumar Rao), the parents and chubby brother, all of them in their small parts are well cast and well performed.

The music and songs are good too, and the wedding rhythm of  ‘thumakda’  reminded me of  ‘chunari chunari’!

 Queen falls into the category of movies which pleases the reviewer and critic; hence this movie gets the rare 4 stars!  You walk out of the theater happy and continue to think of the characters pleasantly in the movie …

Lunch Box- A Movie Review

              

            Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bharti Achrekars' voice, Lillette  Dubey
                   Story and Screenplay : Ritesh Batra
                   Producer:  Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap , Arun Rangachari
                   Director: Ritesh Batra
                   Language: Hindi and English
                   Genres: Drama, Romance
                   Rating: ****
                   Release dates: Sept 20, 2013 (India)  February 28, 2014 (USA)
                   Review: Birjis Adeni Rashed

                   website: http://www.sonyclassics.com/thelunchbox/

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwYN-XS92yY


(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!)



 I have seen many movies and written many a review but they are some movies which move you enough that you want to recommend others to not miss. Lunch Box is one such movie.

  Lunch Box is sad, sweet and delicious!  It is emotional and poignant, yet captivating and endearing story of lonely lives, hanging on with a ray of hope. The Story is spun around Mumbai’s famous dabawallas who drop lunch boxes to work places, messing up one delivery and creating a connection between isolated lives of an unhappy housewife and older widower. The story is also delightfully delicious showing the love and passion involved in cooking each of those recipes of ‘Bharwan Karela/Stuffed Bitter Gourd ’, ‘Masala Baingan/Spicy Eggplants’, ‘ Paneer Kofta Masala/ Cheese Ball Curry’   that are packed in the lunchbox, that you start craving and yearning to make and eat those dishes yourselves!

The movie reflects the many lonely lives embroiled in their monotonous routines in the hustle and bustle of metropolitan Mumbai.  Saajan Fernandez( Irfaan Khan)  smoking away his lonely life after his wife’s death, buying  himself a vertical  burial plot and  planning his  retirement ; Ila  (Nimrat Kaur), the young  neglected housewife going through the chores of cooking, cleaning and laundry zoned out by her husband involved in his own affair;  The aunty (voice of bharati Bchrekar)  who seeks interaction through a  neighboring window to avoid the silence in her life with a bed ridden husband who just stares at the moving fan; The mother (Lillete Dubey) tired of just feeding and bathing the sick dad; the enthusiastic subordinate Aslam (Nawazuddin) seeking to get trained by Fernanadez,   is a  sad orphaned  fool who is  brushing of his loneliness by planning his wedding!

Fernandez and Ila connect through notes passed in a lunchbox, initially descriptive about food to personal rants and life’s  going ons to sharing each other’s life stories…. Fernandez says we forget things if we have no one to tell them to, and you do not want this quirky communication and yum lunches  to stop either. The little notes of conversation, a listening ear to their loneliness and caring gestures brings a meaning and happiness to their lives.   Even though they don’t meet, they develop a bond of love and care.



Ritesh Batra,  a debutante director amazes with his entrancing script and screenplay and excellent direction.  The actors, Irfaan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawaazuddin  all have the finest performances, each carving out their roles brilliantly to the smallest nuance, tone, look, line and  detail. Interestingly even the voice of Bharati Achrekar is well played.

The dabawallas' efficiency and accuracy of delivery system with their low cost, high service, simple operating system is admired across the world, and is a case study in many business schools and even Harvard Business School. But the movie takes into one possible human error of this dabawallas to build an incredible story. Its funny that  in the movie when Ila the female lead complains about error of delivery, the dabbawalla immediately  defends  himself and says they are known for their efficiency even in Harvard;)

Lunchbox  feasts  the soul,   while stirring up your  appetite and craving its delicious contents.

After seeing the movie, I definitely am craving to eat stuffed Bitter gourd. Here are a few Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipes of Bharwan Karela , for you to  cook and enjoy;)

 http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/bharwan-karela.aspx
http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/stuffed-karela.aspx
http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/masaledar-karele.aspx

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag runs away with many Filmfare Awards of 2013.

Here’s the list of the winners of 59th Idea-Filmfare Awards.

Best Film - Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Best Director - Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
Best Actor - Farhan Akhtar (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
Best Actress - Deepika Padukone - Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela

Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Supriya Pathak Kapur (Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Nawazuddin Siddiqui (The Lunchbox)

Best Music - Mithhoon, Ankit Tiwari, Jeet Ganguly (Aashiqui 2)
Best Playback Singer (Male) - Arjit Singh - Tum hi ho - (Aashiqui 2)
Best Playback Singer (Female) - Monali Thakur - Sawaar (Lootera)
Best Lyrics - Prasoon Joshi - Zinda (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)


Tum hi ho - (Aashiqui 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umqb9KENgmk
Sawaar Loon (Lootera)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM1IswXgIl8

Zinda (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP6MNznzVcQ

Best Debut (Male) - Dhanush (Raanjhanaa)
Best Debut (Female) - Vaani Kapoor (Shuddh Desi Romance)
Best Debut Director - Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox)

Best Actor (Critics) - Rajkumar Rao (Shahid)
Best Actress (Critics) - Shilpa Shukla (BA Pass)
Best Film (Critics) - The Lunchbox

Lifetime Achievement Award - Tanuja
RD Burman Award - Sidharth Mahadevan

Best Action - Thomas Struthers and Guru Bachchan (D Day)
Best Background Score - Hitesh Sonik (Kai Po Che)
Best Choreogrpahy - Samir and Arsh Tanna – Lahu muh lag gaya (Goliyon Ki Raasleel Ram-leela)
Best Cinematography - Kamaljit Negi (Madras Cafe)
Best Costume - Dolly Ahluwalia (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
Best Dialogue - Subhash Kapoor (Jolly LLB)
Best Editing - Aarif Sheikh (D-Day)
Best Production Design- Acropolis Design (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
Best Story - Subhash Kapoor (Jolly LLB)
Best Sound Design - Bishwadeep Chatterjee and Nohar Rajan Samal (Madras Café)
Best Screenplay - Chetan Bhagat, Abhishe Kapoor, Supratik Sen and Pubali Chaudhari (Kai Po Che)

This year's awards were hosted by Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor , though I personally didn’t enjoy the hosting this year with futurist 2050 references and robots  and clones etc.  The glitzy ceremony also featured a host of performances by Madhuri Dixit, Katrina Kaif,  Priyanka Chopra, Salman Khan,  Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh.

This evening was simultaneous aired while the 56th Grammy Awards were getting viewed in the USA, so have to say juggling between the Grammy and Filmfare was not easy. 

Jan – February 2014 Bollywood Movie Releases

Sholay 3D

Director: Ramesh Sippy
Producer; G.P. Sippy
Screenplay: Salim-Javed
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, Amjad Khan
Music :    R. D. Burman
Genre:Action
   
   





Dedh Ishqiya

Release date: Jan 10
Genre: Thriller, Romance, Social
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Producer: Vishal Bhardwaj, Raman Maroo
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Naseeruddin Shah, Madhuri Dixit, Huma Qureshi,Vijay Raaz, Shraddha Kapoor, Ravi Gosain Bhuvan Arora,Manoj Pahwa,Salman Shahid, Midhat Khan, Bhakti Deshpande,Fareed Ahmed, John Vijay
Story / Writers: Darab Farooqui
Background Music:Clinton Cerejo
Music Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Lyricist: Gulzar
Screenplay:Vishal Bhardwaj, Abhishek Chaubey
Dialogue: Sanjeev Dutta



Jai Ho

Release :24 jan, 2014    
Genre: Action/Drama/Comedy
Director: Sohail Khan
Cast: Salman Khan,Sana Khan,Daisy Shah, Tabu



Producers: Sohail Khan, Sunil Lulla
Writer: A R Murugadoss
Screenplay:  Dilip Shukla
Based on : Stalin by A. R. Murugadoss
Music: Sajid-Wajid, Devi Sri Prasad, Amal Malik
Background music: Sandeep Shirodkar





One By Two

Release date: 31 Jan, 2014
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Director: Devika Bhagat
Cast: Abhay Deol, Preeti Desai, Rati Agnihotri, Jayant Kripalani, Darshan Jariwala, Lilette Dubey, Anish Trivedi









Hasee Toh Phasee 
  

               
Release date: Feb 7, 2014   
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Director: Vinil Mathew   
Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Parineeti Chopra, Adah Sharma

Producer:Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap

Screenplay/ Story: Harshavardhan Kulkarni
Music: Vishal-Shekhar









Heartless

Release date: Fe 14, 2014   
Genre; Thriller
Director: Shekhar Suman
Cast: Adhyayan Suman, Ariana Ayam, Om Puri, Deepti Naval, Madan Jain, Shekhar Suman

Music: Gaurav Dagaonkar










Gunday

Release date: Fe 14, 2014
Genre: Romance/Action
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Producer:Aditya Chopra
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan
 Music:Sohail Sen
Background Score:Julius Packiam









 Highway

Release date : Feb 21,2014
Genre:Drama/Romance
Director/Writer: Imtiaz Ali
Cast: Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt

Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala
Imtiaz Ali
Music: A. R. Rahman









Shaadi Ke Side Effects

Release date : Feb 28, 2014    
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Director/Writer : Saket Chaudhary
Producer:  Pritish Nandy,Balaji Motion Pictures
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Vidya Balan, Vir Das, Ram Kapoor, Gautami Kapoor, Ila Arun, Hariharan, Purab Kohli, Rati Agnihotri
Music: Pritam








Queen

Release date : Feb 28, 2014
Genre: Romance/Drama
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao, Lisa Haydon
Director: Vikas Bahl
Producer:  Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane
Screenplay:  Parveez Shaikh,Chaitally Parmar, Vikas Bahl
Story: Vikas Bahl
Music: Amit Trivedi

Dhoom 3- Movie Review

  Producer: Aditya Chopra
  Story & Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya
  Cast: Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Jackie Shroff,  Uday Chopra
  Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty 
  Genre: Action, Adventure
  Release date: Dec 20, 2014
  Rating: ***.5
  Review: Birjis Adeni Rashed
  Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeF_b8EQcK0

(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!)

Check out  Dhoom#2 Review - http://bollywoodfilmcritic.blogspot.com/2006/12/dhoom-2-its-like-exciting-but-not.html

Dhoom 3 is entertaining with stunts, races, acrobatics, gadgets, gizmos and Aamir Khan. But with more emotional, melodrama, and revenge masala, than the previous Dhoom series movies.

Dhoom-# 3 is the revenge story of a child who grows up to avenge the banker who ruined and closed his father’s dream circus by systematically robbing all the branches of the Chicago bank to ‘close it down’! This unrealistic plot to start with is set in the wrong time and place.   In 1980s Chicago, USA, banks were not owned by single bankers like the  1930’s and banks don’t close down if they are going down, historically the federal reserve and the government bail out the banks in USA!

But the magnetism of Dhoom is not its irrational story but the action. The movie, like all the Dhoom movies is about amazing hi-flying stunts, hi-tech robberies, and impossible heists and more. Dhoom3  has  vrooming on the bikes like ‘Fast and Furious’,  aerial  outlandish acrobatics and  high rise and underwater stunts like ‘Mission Impossible’ with  ‘Bond’ like gadgetry transformations.  In addition to this is charismatic Aamir Khan biceped, brainy and brawny with the eye-candy babe presence of Katrina Kaif which is drawing crowds to the theatre!

 When the Indian cops Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra are summoned up to America to solve a bank robbery just because the thief  signs off every robbery with  a saying in Hindi with a clown mask, you think  hey they could have asked the Desi’s who know Hindi in America, to translate ;)
The Indian cops silly Auto rickshaw races and gravity defying flying stunts in India  juxtaposed with  Aamirs  extraordinary stunts and  racing  machinery in Chicago with its contradiction is quite amusing mish-mash.  But the interesting link is the motorcycles used for racing both in US and India were all BMW. Good advertising revenue from there I guess;)

The story obviously is man centric with Katrina Kaif injected only for sizzling eye-candy for song to song intervals. And  surprisingly not a lot of women in the cast!

Dhoom3’s  extra long narrative and dragged  scenes which need serious editing elaborates the motives and reasoning of  Aamirs bank robberies and heists unlike previous Dhooms!  The circus with sentimental melodrama is very much like ‘Now You See Me’ and the secret plot twist is an apparent inspiration from  ‘The Prestige’.

But lastly I would have liked a different ending!

Aamir with his acting caliber, smart brains, pumped up  brawn, charm,  amazing stunts and sleek artistry steals the show. Though in the tap dancing scene his shortness was vastly emphasized.
Katrina Kaif shows of her fit and sexy stunning presence in the beautifully picturized songs, but doesn’t have much other role besides some romance in a subplot.

Abishesk Bachchan is good but his role of a tough cop is not strong enough to parallel the anti hero Aamir in this movie.  Uday Chopra as the side kick is less funnier than the  previous Dhooms.

The cinematography in Dhoom was excellent, capturing the downtown Chicago well. ‘The Great Indian Circus building is btw- The Shedd Aquarium.

The Music, and choreography of all  the songs are  quite good.   Kamli, Malang,  Dhoom Machale  and Tu hi Junoon are all melodious. Lyrics of a few are clichéd. The poem  Bande Hum Uske is good.

Dhoom #3 is entertaining but don’t ask questions. A lot of whys, ifs and buts are sparked while watching this Dhoom too like previous ones. But the people who are raving are the ones responsible for this action adventure to gross Rs.501.35 crore ($83.56 million) worldwide in just 3 weeks!
-

Bollywood Movie Releases - December 2013

R... Rajkumar

Directed by - Prabhu Deva
Produced by-Viki Rajani, Sunil Lulla
Written by- Shiraz Ahmed
Screenplay by- Prabhu Dheva, Sunil Agarwal, Ravi S Sundaram
Story by- Prabhu Deva
Starring - Shahid Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Sonu Sood
Music by- Pritam, Sandeep Chowta
Release date- December 6, 2013
Running time- 139 mins
Genre- Romance/Drama/Action







Dhoom 3

Directed by-Vijay Krishna Acharya
Produced by- Aditya Chopra
Screenplay by- Vijay Krishna Acharya
Story by- Aditya Chopra, Vijay Krishna Acharya
Starring- Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra, Katrina Kaif
Music by- Pritam, Julius Packiam
Release dates- 20 December 2013
Running time-172 minutes
Genre- Action Thriller

Good Old Classics...Casablanca

 CASABLANCA

It’s one of the most talked about and popular movies in Hollywood history.  A story of love, sacrifice and war.  The movie made on a small budget and practically shot in a studio made history because of the outstanding acting of Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and the supporting cast. Brilliant direction by Micheal Curtiz  and excellent and well edited script, all winning Oscars. 

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Produced by Hal B. Wallis

Screenplay by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein,  Howard Koch

Based on Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray Burnett, Joan Alison

Starring: Humphrey Bogart,  Ingrid Bergman,  Paul Henreid

Music by      Max Steiner

Cinematography    Arthur Edeson

Editing by   Owen Marks

Studio : Warner Bros.

Release dates:    November 26, 1942 (premiere);    January 23, 1943 (general release)

Running time; 102 minutes
Genre:  Romance, Drama

Rating: ****

 

Famous Lines:

Rick: Last night we said a great many things. You said I was to do the thinking for both of us. Well, I've done a lot of it since then, and it all adds up to one thing: you're getting on that plane with Victor where you belong.

Ilsa: But, Richard, no, I... I...

Rick: Now, you've got to listen to me! You have any idea what you'd have to look forward to if you stayed here? Nine chances out of ten, we'd both wind up in a concentration camp. Isn't that true, Louie?

Captain Renault: I'm afraid Major Strasser would insist.

Ilsa: You're saying this only to make me go.

Rick: I'm saying it because it's true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.

Ilsa: But what about us?

Rick: We'll always have Paris. We didn't have, we, we lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.

Ilsa: When I said I would never leave you.

Rick: And you never will. But I've got a job to do, too. Where I'm going, you can't follow. What I've got to do, you can't be any part of. Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that.

[Ilsa lowers her head and begins to cry]

Rick: Now, now...

[Rick gently places his hand under her chin and raises it so their eyes meet]

Rick: Here's looking at you kid

Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJvlGh_FgcI