Phata Poster Nikla Hero- Review

Directed by: Rajkumar Santoshi and Hamza Anwar
Produced by: Ramesh Taurani, Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur
Written by: Rajkumar Santoshi
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz, Padmini Kholapuri
Music by: Pritam
Release date: 20th September 2013
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: **.5(2.5)
Review: Birjis Adeni Rashed

(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!)





This is one of those movies where the trailer is good, picture not.  This movie trailer showed all the highlights of the movie trying to give a peak into a fun movie, unfortunately the movie itself didn’t have more than the highlights.

The story vaguely strung together between one song to the other is about  an aspiring actor  who becomes a real life hero  through journeys of fake cop and real cops, Bollywood dreams and mothers melodramatic desires. The movie’s songs seemed to have given a priority before the script itself because the screenplay just leads us from one song to the other without any depth and detail in story.

The best part of the movie was of course the song- Tu mere Agala Bagal  Hai song and Shahid Kapoors excited charm trying to make things funny in a jaded storyline. But rest all is just silly, clichéd story, theatrical comedy and old jokes.  Occasionally some things are funny, but it’s not enough to hold the story together or entertain enough.


Shahid Kapoor shows a lot of charm and enthusiasm to make things funny and entertaining but the script is so bad, he could only do so much. Illeana was very silly and her acting talents fell from her role in Barfi.

Mika Singh’s  Tu Mere Agal Bagal is very entertaining with Shahid Kapoors doggie moves. Atif Aslam’s Tu Rang Sharbaton Ka is melodious, the item song with Nargis Fakri, Dhating Naach  probably has some moves but nothing spectacular.

Just wait for it to come on Netflix or DVD

Shudd Desi Romance- Review

Directed by: Maneesh Sharma
Produced by :Aditya Chopra
Written by ; Jaideep Sahni
Starring :Sushant Singh Rajput, Parineeti Chopra, Vaani Kapoor,Rishi Kapoor
Music by:Sachin - Jigar
Release date:   September 6, 2013
Genre: Romance,comedy
Content advisory :  kissing, implied sex , smoking,drinking
Rating: **.5(2.5)
Review: Birjis Adeni Rashed


 (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 don’t understand in what context they call this a ‘Shudd Desi Romance’ when ‘Shudd’ means ‘pure’ and the movie doesn’t reflect it! Neither does it show pure Desiness/Indianess in its south Asian belief structure of marriage and morals, nor does the romance reflect pure love, more of an attraction and sexual chemistry!  The movie also got released with alternative title ‘Random Desi Romance’ and that seems more appropriate, reflecting the skewed up mindset of some youth in progressive India who prefer commitment-less philosophy to  life, love and sex!


The story set in Jaipur, in the lower middle class strata, revolves around three lead actors, one male and two female. The male lead played by Sushant Singh Rajput is a sheepish, awkward  hypocritical  cold feet groom/ rental barati/ tourist guide who doesn’t know what he wants to do, nor know what he has to say at times.  The main female lead played by Parineti Chopra is an independent, aggressive, feisty, free willed woman who lives life by her own rules, and likes to live it with all risks, smoking, drinking, abortions and all ; while the other female lead by Vani Kapoor is a confident, assertive character/affected bride of a walk away wedding, wanting  revenge, yet getting emotions tangled.


The story involves frivolous wedding parties with  rental barati’s,  multiple commitment phobic wedding escapades,  live in relationships, moving in and moving out of relationship, aimless conversations, characters going in circles, repetitive scenes and  confused understanding of relationships. The flow of the story is pretty casual with slice of life scenes and funny at times, yet the scenes where characters talk into the camera to the audience doesn’t fit in the flow. The story also is slow paced and exhausted at times.


The director Maneesh Sharma, either has seen too many weddings growing up or he and producer  Aditya Chopra  want to use their  wedding research extensively; this is  another movie on weddings after  ‘Band Baja Barat’, and ‘Rab ne Bana di Jodi’ between them, they better move on.

The actors interestingly did an excellent job in their roles. Parineti Chopra lives up the role of this chilled casual character very well and comes out as a natural; Shushant Rajput suits the role of an awkward communication impaired, commitment phobic youth; while the new actress Vani Kapoor handles her role confidently and shows promise; Rishi Kapoor of course is a veteran actor.

The songs in the movie have foot tapping music and good lyrics and its cinematography brings out the architectural and cultural beauty of the pink city Jaipur. 

But will have to say it’s just another random movie.

Bollywood Film Critic in the News;)

Check out the  article below where Bollywood Film Critic is listed along with many other popular blogs online in an article titled "Webbed Feat" in India's widely read newspaper, Hindustan Times.  This article Webbed Feat was on page 6 of Hindustan Times, dated August 30, 2013.
 http://epaper.hindustantimes1.com/PUBLICATIONS/HTEDGE/HTE/2013/08/30/INDEX.SHTML
  You can read this article by  clicking on the above link and scrolling to page 6;)
 

Bollywood Movie Releases- 2013 September, August, July

September Movies:

Zanjeer 

(Simultaneously  launched in Telegu as - ‘Thoofan’ )
Directed by:Apoorva Lakhia Produced by:Reliance Entertainment, Puneet Prakash Mehra,Sumeet Prakash Mehra,Flying Turtle Films
Screenplay by:    Suresh Nair,Apoorva Lakhia
Story by: Apoorva Lakhia
Based on: Zanjeer(1973 movie with Amitabh Bachchan) by Salim-Javed
Starring:Ram Charan Teja, Priyanka Chopra,Sanjay Dutt(in hindi), Srihari(in telegu),Prakash Raj, Mahie Ankur Bhatia,    Atul Kulkarni (Hindi),Tanikella Bharani (Telugu) Music: Meet Bros Anjjan, Chirantan Bhatt
Release date: 6 September 2013
Language: Hindi,Telugu
Genre: Action thriller.
Trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93leN9TY3hk
Rating on Trailer and Songs: Will have to check out possibly on DVD if Ramcharan can stand up like Amitabh!


Shudd Desi Romance/ Random Desi Romance

Directed by: Maneesh Sharma
Produced by: Aditya Chopra
Written by: Jaideep Sahni
Starring: Sushant Singh Rajput, Parineeti Chopra, Vaani Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor
Music by; Sachin-Jigar
Release date: September 6, 2013
Genre: Romance, comedy
 Trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Hle83Plpo


Grand Masti-2

Directed by: Indra Kumar
Produced by: Ashok Thakeria, Indra Kumar
Written by: Milap Zaveri, Tushar Hiranandani
Starring :Vivek Oberoi, Ritesh Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Sonalee Kulkarni, Bruna Abdullah, Karishma Tanna, Kainaat Arora, Maryam Zakaria, Manjari Fadnis
Music by: Anand Raj Anand, Sanjeev Darshan
Release date: 13 September 2013
Genre: Comedy
Rating on preview trailer and songs: Run of the mill Adult comedy. Not worth a watch.

 








John Day


Directed by: Ahishor Solomon
Produced by:      Anjum Rizvi, Aatef A Khan and K Asif
Written by: Ahishor Solomon
Starring:Naseeruddin Shah, Randeep Hooda, Shernaz Patel, Sharat Saxena,Vipin Sharma, Elena Kazan
Music by: Kshitij Tarey & Strings
Genre: Thriller
Release Date 13 Sept, 2013 Friday
Trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zQ0jT-ZRQI






 Phata Poster Nikhla Hero

Directed by: Rajkumar Santoshi
Produced by: Ramesh Taurani, Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur
Written by:Rajkumar Santoshi
Starring:Shahid Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz, Padmini Kolhapure
Music by: Pritam
Release date:   20 September 2013

Genre: Comedy and Masala Entertainer
Rating on Trailer previews and songs : This could be an interesting possible watch.
Trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCrNoy5OeOI
Songs: "Tu Mere Agal Bagal Hai"- Shahid kapoor is at his hilarious best in this funny song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L899QuA1E24

August

Madras Café

Directed by:Shoojit Sircar
 Produced by: John Abraham,Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Ronnie Lahiri
 Written by:Somnath Dey, Shubendu Bhattacharya, Juhi Chaturvedi(dialogues)
 Starring: John Abraham, Nargis Fakhri, Rashi Khanna, Siddharth Basu
Music by: Shantanu Moitra
 Release date:  August 23, 2013













Once upon ay time in Mumbai Dobaara!

Directed by:Milan Luthria
Produced by:Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor
Written by: Rajat Arora
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Imran Khan, Sonakshi Sinha
 Music by: Pritam, Anupam Amod
Release date:    15 August 2013










Chennai Express

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan , Deepika Padukone,Nikitin Dheer, Priyamani, Sathyaraj, Upen Patel, Manorama
Producer: Gauri Khan, Karim Morani, Ronnie Screwwala, Siddharth Roy Kapoor
Director: Rohit Shetty
Story: K Subhash
Screenplay: Yunus Sajawal, Robin Bhatt
Music Director: Vishal Dadlani , Shekhar Ravjiani
Running time: 140 minutes
Release date:Aug 8
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Action , Masala Entertainer
Rating: ***.5(3.5)
Language: Hindi &Tamil
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZGR5Sj1Bfo
Review: http://www.bollywoodfilmcritic.blogspot.com/2013/08/chennai-express-dont-analyze-just-laugh.html


Satyagraha

Directed by:Prakash Jha
 Produced by: Prakash Jha, Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur
Written by:Anjum Rajabali, Prakash Jha,Rutvik Oza
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpai, Amrita Rao
Music by: Salim-Sulaiman, Indian Ocean, Meet Bros Anjjan,Aadesh Shrivastava
Lyrics. Prasoon Joshi
Release date: August 30, 2013




July 2013

Lootera

Released- Jul 5








  

Policegiri
Released-July5

Bhaag Milka Bhaag
Released- Jul 12

Ramaya Vastavaiya
released- Jul 19

DDAY
Released July 19

  
Trailer:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NlCkqBGnRY








Issaq-
Released- Jul 26

Chennai Express – Don’t Analyze, Just Laugh.

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan , Deepika Padukone,Nikitin Dheer, Priyamani, Sathyaraj, Upen Patel, Manorama
Producer: Gauri Khan, Karim Morani, Ronnie Screwwala, Siddharth Roy Kapoor
Director: Rohit Shetty
Story: K Subhash
Screenplay: Yunus Sajawal, Robin Bhatt
Music Director: Vishal Dadlani , Shekhar Ravjiani
Running time: 140 minutes
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Action , Masala Entertainer
Language: Hindi &Tamil
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZGR5Sj1Bfo
Rating: ***.5(3.5)
Review: Birjis Adeni Rashed

(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!)

Let me start with a positive note and say the fact-  Chennai Express  was a funny entertainer with a lot of laugh out loud moments like a laughathon.  Yes it was very  silly, predictable, slapstick, cheesy, a no brainer but will have to say yet funny!

The movie has Sharukh Khan playing Rahul, this time more a legit 40 year old;) who after his grandfathers death, boards the Chennai Express to supposedly immerse his ashes in Rameshwaram a town is Tamilnadu as per grandpas wishes. Parodying the train scene from DilwaleDulhania Leh Jayenge, SRK helps board the damsel in distress Deepika Padokone ( Meena ) and the Shrek size  goons who are following her. Meena………….Sundaram  is running away from her father ,a local Don of Komban  who wants to marry her off to another strong Goon for expanding his power!  That is the nonexistent plot, story, and the movie in a few lines.

 The movie also has a parody of references/ dialogs  from  Sharukh Khans other movies, it has a lot of Tamil spoken without subtitles; It has  hilarious singsong conversations in tune with SRK songs  to communicate  ingeniously without the suspicion of  the Tamil speaking goons.  Yes all this is juvenile and silly but yet it’s funny and incidentally clean and kid friendly comedy unlike other movies which sometimes tend to get vulgar in order to be slapstick comedy entertainers. 

 While listing more details one can’t forget the  scenic locales and colorful sets;  beautiful south Indian sarees , heavy accent and language mishmash guffaws, good and bad mix of music and songs by Vishal-Shekar, dramatic action scenes of typical Rohit Shetty movies, and   pretty presence of deepika who has shades of good acting and over acting, and lastly Shahrukh Khans histrionics and overacting, which  makes the movie entertaining!

I think the movie is doing well irrespective of its simple no brainer comedy because of  the masala movie formula,   the timing of its launch on Eid with audiences  seeking Eid ka shandaar entertainment ; and finally it’s an  entertaining  clean comedy one can take the kids to theatres to watch!

 If you don’t dissect and analyze the details, it’s worth a watch for some laughs.


{p.s- If you watch this movie in the company of  good South Indian friends, like I did, you will enjoy it more ;) }

Check out  another masala movie with the same lead of Sharukh Khan and Deepika Padukone- " Om Shanti Om ".  http://bollywoodfilmcritic.blogspot.com/2007/11/om-shanti-om-spoof-on-bollywood.html

Bollywood Movie Releases May and June 2013

Ranjhanaa

 

Directed by      Anand L. Rai
Produced by    Krishika Lulla[1]
Story & Screenplay by Himanshu Sharma
Starring: Dhanush( tamil star), Sonam Kapoor,Abhay Deol
Music by A. R. Rahman
Release date:   June 21, 2013
Genre: Romance
The film will also release in Tamil: Ambikapathy.

Yamla Pagal Deewana2

 

 

Directed by      Sangeeth Sivan
Produced by    Dharmendra
Screenplay by Jasvinder Bath
Story by           Lynda Deol, Shubhangi Rathod
Starring           Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Neha Sharma, Kristina Akheeva
Music by          Sharib-Toshi, Sachin Gupta (Aidan Hi Nachna)
Release date:    7 June 2013

Genre: Comedy

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

 

 

Directed by         Ayan Mukerji

Produced by       Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar

Story & Screenplay by    Ayan Mukerji

Starring : Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Aditya Roy Kapur, Kalki Koechlin

Music by    Pritam

Release date:    May 31, 2013

Genre: Romance

Bombay Talkies

Directed by      Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap Produced by    Viacom 18 Motion Pictures,Ashi Dua Written by        Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Reema Kagti Starring: Rani Mukerji, Randeep Hooda, Saqib Saleem,Vineet Kumar Singh,Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Naman Jain Music by          Amit Trivedi Release date:    May 3, 2013 Genre: Drama

BombayTalkies is a 2013 Indian anthology film consisting of four short films, directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar. The film released on May 3, 2013, coincides with and celebrates the centenary year of Indian cinema. 

Aashiqui vs Aashiqui 2

Compare the beautiful songs of the 1990 Romantic movie Aashiqui with the new 2013 movie Aashiqui 2 releasing today -April 26.

Aashiqui was a successful movie with its beautiful songs and even beautiful lyrics with the tender romance of Rahul Roy and Anu Agarwal . The Aashiqui songs were so popular that they  resonate even today after so many years .  The songs from Aashiqui 2  with Aditya Roy Kapoor and  Shraddha Kapoor are ok but when you compare them to the other Aashiqui songs, one  wants to listen to the older Aashiqui songs again and again.

Some remakes bring out a new perspective to older classic movies while some remakes make you think what already good can’t be makes better!

I loved listening to the classic Aashiqui songs, but  what’s your opinion?  Compare and Contrast and Review and Feed back in comments below.

Enjoy the classic Aashiqui songs here;

Aashiqui

Nazar ke saamne:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq_pupMvEvM

 Bus Ek Sanam Chahiye  Aashiqui ke liye: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXbSZFNBvvE

Jane Jigar Janeman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOXigA5cSQ0

Aab tere bin jee leyenge hum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTatsmUgmiA

Dheere Dheere se : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeyfUuXPOcY

Mai Dhuniya Bhoola Dunga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGmEwa9HC2w

Mere Dil tere liye dhadak tha hai : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOXigA5cSQ0

Aashiqui 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUo8CKI34o4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BuyhqfnH_c ( juke box )

Aashiqui:

 Music Director : Nadeem  & Shravan

Track #	Title	Singer(s)	Lyricist	Length
1	"Jaane Jigar Jaaneman"	Kumar Sanu, Anuradha Paudwal	Sameer	05:15
2	"Main Duniya Bhula Doonga"	Kumar Sanu, Anuradha Paudwal	Sameer	05:19
3	"Ek Sanam Chahiye"	Kumar Sanu	Sameer	06:14
4	"Nazar Ke Saamne Jigar Ke"	Kumar Sanu, Anuradha Paudwal	Sameer	05:36
5	"Tu Meri Zindagi"	Kumar Sanu, Anuradha Paudwal	Sameer	04:46
6	"Dil Ka Aalam"	Kumar Sanu	Madan Pal	05:01
7	"Ab Tere Bin"	Kumar Sanu	Sameer	05:46
8	"Dheere Dheere Se"	Kumar Sanu, Anuradha Paudwal	Rani Malik	05:31
9	"Mera Dil Tere Liye"	Udit Narayan, Anuradha Paudwal	Sameer	04:36
10	"Ek Sanam Chahiye"	Anuradha Paudwal	Sameer	06:11
11	"Jaane Jigar Jaaneman (I)"	Kumar Sanu, Anuradha Paudwal	Rani Malik	03:59

Film Fare Awards For Aashiqui:

Best Music Director - Nadeem Shravan

Best Male Playback Singer - Kumar Sanu for "Ab Tere Bin"

Best Female Playback Singer - Anuradha Paudwal for "Nazar Ke Saamne"

Best Lyricist Award - Sameer for "Nazar Ke Saamne"

Aashiqui 2

Music director: Jeet Ganguly, Mithoon, Ankit Tiwari

#	Song	Composer(s)	Lyrics(s)	Singer(s)	Duration
1	"Tum hi ho"	Mithoon	Mithoon	Arijit Singh	4:22
2	"Sunn Raha Hai"	Ankit Tiwari	Sandeep Nath	Ankit Tiwari	6:30
3	"Chahun Main Yaa Na"	Jeet Ganguly	Irshad Kamil	Arijit Singh & Palak Muchhal	5:04
4	"Hum Mar jayenge"	Jeet Ganguly	Irshad Kamil	Arijit Singh & Tulsi Kumar	5:06
5	"Meri Aashiqui"	Mithoon	Irshad Kamil	Arijit Singh & Palak Muchhal	4:26
6	"Piya Aaye Na"	Jeet Ganguly	Irshad Kamil	K.K, Tulsi Kumar	4:46
7	"Bhula Dena"	Jeet Ganguly	Irshad Kamil	Mustafa Zahid	4:00
8	"Aasan nahi yahan"	Jeet Ganguly	Irshad Kamil	Arijit Singh	3:34
9	"Sunn Raha Hai"	Ankit Tiwari	Sandeep Nath	Shreya Ghoshal	5:14
10	"Milne Hai Mujhse Aayi"	Jeet Ganguly	Irshad Kamil	Arijit Singh	4:55
11	"Aashiqui Theme"	Mithoon	Instrumental	Mithoon	2:42

Bollywood Movie Releases-March and April 2013

Aashiqui 2

Directed by Mohit Suri

Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Mukesh Bhatt, Krishan Kumar

Written by Shagufta Rafiqui

Starring  Aditya Roy Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor

Music by Mithoon, Jeet Ganguly, Ankit Tiwari

Release date;    April 26, 2013

Genre: Romance 

Nautanki Saala!

Producer:Ramesh Sippy,Bhushan Kumar,Kishan Kumar

Director:Rohan Sippy

Screenplay:Nipun Dharmadhikari,Rohan Sippy,  Charu Dutt Acharya

Star Cast:Ayushmann Khurrana,Kunaal Roy Kapur,Abhishek Bachchan( Cameo), Evelyn Sharma, Pooja Salvi, Gaelyn Mendonca, Rufy Khan, Sulbha Arya

Music Director: Mikey McCleary, Falak Shabbir,  Ayushmann Khurrana,   Rochak Kohli, Anand Milind,Rashid Khan, Laxmikant Kudalkar Pyarelal

Release date; 12 Apr 2013

Genre:  Romance,Comedy

 I Me Aur Main

Directed by Kapil Sharma

Produced by Goldie Behl, Shrishti Behl Arya

Starring  John Abraham,Prachi Desai,Chitrangada Singh

Music by Falak Shabir, Sachin-Jigar, Gourav Dasgupta, Raghav Sachar

Release Date: March 1st 2013

Genre: Comedy, Romance

 

 

The Attacks Of 26/11

Directed by Ram Gopal Varma

Produced by Parag Sanghvi

Written byRam Gopal Varma, Rommel Rodrigues

Starring Nana Patekar, Sanjeev Jaiswal, Atul Kulkarni

Release date:    1 March 2013

Genre:  Based on 26/11 attacks in Bombay; Crime thriller

 

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns 

 

Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia

Produced by Tigmanshu Dhulia, Rahul Mittra, Nitin Tej Ahuja

Screenplay byTigmanshu Dhulia,Sanjay Chauhan

Starring  Jimmy Shergill, Mahie Gill, Irrfan Khan, Soha Ali Khan

Music by Sandeep Chowta, Mukhtar Sahota

Release date:    March 8, 2013

Genre: Romantic Thriller, Drama

 

3G

Producer: Sunil A Lulla, Viki Rajani

Star Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Sonal Chauhan

Story / Writers: Sheershak Anand,         Shantanu Ray Chhibber

Background Music: Amar Mohile

 Release Date:    15 Mar 2013

 Genre; Thriller, Horror

Rangrezz

Directed by         Priyadarshan

Produced by      Vashu Bhagnani

Written by          Mushtaq Shiekh

Story by               Samuthirakani

Starring                Jackky Bhagnani, Priya Anand, Rajpal Yadav, Amitosh Nagpal

Music by              Sajid-Wajid, Sundar C Babu

Release date:    March 21, 2013

Genre: Drama

 

 

Himmatwala

Directed by  Sajid Khan

Produced by  Vashu Bhagnani, Siddharth Roy Kapur

Written by Sajid Khan

Story and Screenplay by  Sajid Khan

Based on Himmatwala- (1983)  by K. Raghavendra Rao

(Jeetender and Sridevi)

Starring: Ajay Devgan, Tamannaah, Paresh Rawal, Mahesh Manjrekar, Adhyayan Suman, Zarina Wahab

Music by              Sajid-Wajid

Release date:    29 March 2013

Genre; Action Comedy