Sleepless in Seattle

Its a mushy, romantic, emotional drama. If this repels you, then this is not a movie you will enjoy, since there is nothing more to this movie than a fairy tale romance.

The story starts out with the death of Tom Hank's wife. He has a son. Its been a year but Hanks is still living with the loss of his wife. He is always sad, lost and aloof. He avoids social contact and does not want to date again because he still loves his wife.

Meg Ryan is a reporter and she is engaged to her love Will. She believes in signs but does not know herself. She hears Hanks on a radio station and falls in love with him. She decides to meet him just to find out whether they have a future. She fights with herself, does not tell her fiancee and sets out to meet Hanks. When she finally does see Hanks, he is with a young lady. She looks at Hanks, standing in the middle of a busy road and Hanks sees her too. That's it. She flies back home and Hanks is with his young lady. However, before flying to see Hanks, Ryan had written to him and asked him to meet her at the top of the Empire State Building on the 14th of Feb. Hanks' son is very impressed by her letter and feels she could be his new mom.
Ryan then finally knows that she does not love her fiancee and Hanks' son gets his father to the Empire State Building where the two protagonists meet and the story ends.

Nothing new, right? Performances were good yes, but the story is predictable. All the events of the movie, are basically from some or the other romantic movie. So I'd say the movie is passe!

Ladies vs Ricky Bahl

A con movie. Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma and Yash Raj, but not impressive. The movie is not impressive.
The story, Ranveer is a con. He only cons women. He does not take undue advantage of them, its just the money he's after. Everything is going fine until he cons  business woman Dipannita Sharma. She is then contacted by two of his earlier con-successes, one a punjabi kudi (Parineeta Chopra) and another shy, sophisticated, innocent Lucknow girl (Aditi Sharma). These three set out to con their con-star and retrieve the money they lost to him. For this purpose they hire sales girl Anushka Sharma, who cons her customers everyday by getting them to buy lots of stuff they don't even need. She agrees to do the job. And hence begins the love story between Anushka and Ranveer who both fall helplessly in love with each other. What follows is a small melodrama where each wants to reveal their true selves and live happily with each other. (Yes, happy ending here)

So, nothing much about the story that makes you sit out there for two hours. Anushka and Ranveer show off their bodies and chemistry. Dipannita Sharma and Aditi Sharma have performed well, but the star of the movie is Parineeta. She has done a wonderful job as a flamboyant, rich, over-confident punjabi kudi and makes you want to laugh at all she says and does. She definitely has a great career ahead of her.
The songs are bad, the words make no sense (which is true for many bollywood songs), but the music is also not catchy. The background score is not much too. The story is simple but predictive. The direction and cinematography are good. All in all a not-so-new story with okay performances and mediocre story telling and body show by Anushka and Ranveer. A time pass movie if you have nothing better to do.

Rockstar

A new age movie? Yes, I agree with the attitude depicted.
But does the new age lack common sense?

First let me talk about the pros of the movie, since all the reviews I read uptil now just bash the movie without talking about what's worth.

The songs and the background score. They won't let you forget the movie, not for another year or so.
Ranbir's performance is what holds the movie for 2:45 hours! No kidding, its just Ranbir's earnest and flawless performance that even lets you forgive Nargis for her "ohh-so-kiddish" dialogue delivery and expressions that would make you want to turn away!
The story-telling is nice and it keeps to the "I don't care" attitude of the current age!

But, the curve drops. Why? The story. It is cliche`d, yes but who says usual "hardships in a love story", "an undecided lady, who cannot decide whether she wants to get married, or stay faithful or have an affair" does not work? But obvious mistakes? I mean, one could tell that something was just not finished. Out of the blue someone just says "I am a junglee jawani kind of a person", to a stranger? There were many other mistakes, I won't mention all of them. Here's the link for the mistakes.

But, all said and done, the movie is worth your time once for the performances (ofcourse excluding Nargis) and the background score and the music and the overall feel that the movie gives you. Go watch it!

404

Lately, have you seen a bollywood movie with a well-written script and creative direction? And a movie which is so "out of the box" for bollywood standards? (Please don't say yes, delhi belly was the one. Since that is nowhere close to the skill and potential this movie displays. Dhobi Ghat came close..but still lacked a strong storyline.)

Anyhow, lets come back to 404 error not ..it's all in the mind.

What does this movie boast of?
1. A well-written, crisp script. No obvious loopholes
2. A different,well-executed story-telling which makes nice use of the light.
3. Brilliant cinematography
4. Strong performances

The movie starts out at a college dorm, the usual ragging tactics which go terribly wrong.
Somewhere in between you actually start believing that the paranormal exists. You are fighting with yourself to disprove the possibility, you try looking for different angles but fail. Its the last 15 minutes that turn things around and your mind starts putting everything together. The last scene..gives you goosebumps. The acting in that last scene is mind blowing!

The movie grips you throughout while you keep trying to find loopholes. I haven't been able to find any. I would be happy if you could. Go enjoy the mystery!

Soundtrack

I'm sure most of you didn't know that there was a movie named "soundtrack". Yes ok, we saw it. Why? Because that was the only movie a lousy multiplex near work was screening at the said time. So yes, whatever.
Back to the movie.
Rounak is hear! Yes, that's something we all joked about after watching this movie. Actually not only that, the clown; who was in the movie for some undecipherable reason and who had  very "undecipherable" makeup on too :p ; then there was the mother of the troubled (going..gone deaf son) who was not even a trifle troubled by the knowledge of her son losing his hearing ability? Its such a commonplace occurrence right?
Ohh and the "born deaf gal" who has learnt to speak and lisps and her action for "try again" is similar to revving up a bike. Is that the usual sign used by the deaf and dumb? That seemed weird though.

So, the story. Rounak (Rajeev) who has brilliant ears for music is a spoilt brat. All creatives are into drugs and uncontrolled parties it seems? He then slowly starts losing his hearing ability and that's when the joker starts appearing. (What for??) He then tries medication but eventually he turns deaf. He loses control goes into sanyas and then returns to the city. He meets Soha (forgot her character's name) who is the "born-deaf-gal" who runs an institute to teach the deaf to hear n speak. Hear by looking at the other person's lip movements. Then the love story ensues and inspiring story - Rounak composes music by feeling the vibrations on the speaker! Yes his friend (who has so much money even after he's lost his reputation and is bankrupt) organises a concert for Rounak where the ever so demanding press are (ofcourse) present and demand to know if this is all a farce! Ok, movie ends here as Rounak vanishes and keeps sending his friend music composed by him, to sell and earn.
Ok, movie ends!

The concept wasn't that bad actually, but the script and the direction and the performances (excluding Rajeev) were horrendous! Music is nice, not great but nice. Its foot-tapping and I especially liked the instrumental with all usual noises playing in a rhythm.

Verdict, not worth the effort!

Meet Joe Black

Released in 1998. A different plot definitely and a great star cast. Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani.

Joe Black (Brad Pitt) mysteriously enters the life of Anthony Hopkins and begins to stay with him always, at work at home, everywhere. His mannerisms are a little weird for a human since it seems everything that is normal for humans is something new for him. At first all the family members find it difficult to see him around, but as time passes he becomes as close as a family member and also helps Anthony sort out his troubles and losses in business.

Towards the end it is someone dies, someone gets back and Joe vanishes. I won;t reveal who Joe is because that is something you better find out yourself :)

The story is novel. But it proceeds too slowly. The performances are no doubt brilliant. Brad Pitt does his job well for one to act surprised at everything that is really normal for a human :) Claire Forlani's performance was so very real. All her emotions, trials, tribulations all very well portrayed.

A nice movie to watch, had it been a little more fast paced.

Force

This movie was rather force'd'. Yes, the agenda of the movie was only showing off what's in the poster here. Yes!
Story - inspired (taken) from a south Indian movie (I'm sorry I'm not sure it was tamil or telugu :) ) is rather trivial.
Performances - John okish. Genelia was overacting. And what I don't get is why do all these love stories always depict girls as always blabbering about something orthe other? How can someone just go on talking non-stop? And why is it always the girl? Anyway, that's a discussion for a diff forum :)

Screenplay - good.
Action - mediocre
The only thing I liked about this movie was one song "khwabon khwabon" which is ruined by John's (lack) of expressions. Yea but it only ruins the video, the song and its mucis is appealing.
So, you got the point. Don't go to the movie with great expectations. It a run of the mill movies, usual story, usual love story, usual villains, usual endings. Its a time pass(kill) watch if you have nothing better to do.

I'd say passe!

Bodyguard

Would you like to watch a movie which demands you keep your "brain" aside? Would you like to watch a movie which feels like some old-age bollywood movie, where the credits come before the movie starts (on a screen with a color) and songs pop in anywhere (without context)? Would you like to watch a movie that has all the masala...a love story, a one-sided love story, a prem kahani, tears and emotions and villains and heroes? Yes? Then this is a movie for you. Add-on is Salman's humor and Kareena who is looking stunning these days. Yes her outfits are worth looking at. Salman..he's as usual (won't comment).

So, story..love story with a twist. Screenplay nothing new. Music not so great. Comedy..forced. Performance..the script did not demand any. Script? It didn't need one. Cinematography..you don't want to talk about it.

But even then, its a timepass movie. Not too hard on emotions and grey cells. If you are looking for a light hearted movie and you can bear Salman Khan, then go for it. I'd say its passe!

Mausam..it can kill

It is a Pankaj Kapur movie and I had expected some sense from the movie. It is a total disappointment.
The movie starts with the introduction of Harry (Shahid Kapur) who is a mischievous, notorious young boy. He meets Aayat (Sonam Kapoor) who is a newcomer to the village. He falls head over heels in love with her. Ok, agreed, she looks like an innocent doll. But then why so much overacting to portray the innocence of love, the moments when two lovers steal some time to catch a glimpse of the other. Understood, we do not need so much overkill with dialogues. Then Aayat moves out from the village without informing anyone, during the Ayodhya riots. Riots and someone moves to Mumbai? Okay! Then when they bump into each other in Scotland after 7 years, all she can say for not informing him was "sorry" really? Where's the melodrama now?
Then, this time Harry has to report immediately as the squadron leader who leads the mission to win over Tiger hill in the Kargil war. Nothing about the war is shown, just that Harry's plane catches fire. Ok. But no melodrama, he lands successfully on an authorised runway, but in the next scene, the doctor declares that his left hand is paralysed? Where's the explanation now?
Then again they don't meet..for whatever reasons..but they meet during the Gujarat riots in 2002 where Harry very heroically saves Aayat at the last minute. They save a horse and a small girl (during which Harry's paralysed hand heals!). So now they form a family and live happily ever after. But is the audience happy? No, they are dead...bored to death!
So in summary, story..you just read the trimmed down version (your lucky). Performances..over done. The only one that deserves mention is that of Supriya Pathak. Songs..okish. Background score..okish. Direction not good and editing is horrible (its a 3 hour movie??)
Please don't bother!

Mausam

There is an answer to Mausam. Twitter. The whole movie revolves around failing to update one's status (and stretches to centuries..but is luckily 3 hours). But with the advent of modern communication systems, such problems (one hopes) are now behind us.
--
Mohsin

That girl in yellow boots

This is an Anurag Kashyap movie and its worth his name. The story is by Kalki Koechlin and Anurag Kashyap.
The story revolves around Kalki, who is a Britisher who has come to India to look for her father. She was very young when her father abandoned them and settled in India.

Kalki does not have a work visa in India but for a living she works in a spa. While massaging she also earns some extra bucks with a happy ending.

She meets many characters during her stay and finally when she finds her father, he is someone she would have been happier if she hadn't met.

The story may be a little trivial but what is striking is the story telling, the cinematography and the direction. It is very different from regular bollywood movies. And the performances..powerful. All the characters have given their bit, but Kalki's performance is overpowering. You wouldn't notice anyone else but her. Her character is a difficult one to play. Why? The character has white and gray shades all at once. Her thoughts and needs and beliefs are complicated. She is a young white woman living all alone in Mumbai, where no one really cares about anyone else.

A movie you must watch for the creativity put in the making and the stunning performance by Kalki. Give it a watch!

How to train your dragon

This is an animated movie and no its not only for kids. Its an adorable movie. Simple story, featuring dragons though. But all the characters are endearing especially the lead dragon :)
Toothless is what the lead dragon is called. He is a sweetheart. Just look at his expressions and all you would say is "awww". He is very cute.

Ok, and apart from the dragon's cuteness there is a story :)
The characters in the movie live in an age when dragons were in abundance. Their town was in danger of the dragons, as they attacked at night to steal food. They damaged houses and killed villagers in the attempt. Thus the skill people developed in that town over time is fighting the dragons. Killing the dragon was considered as an achievement of the highest degree. The leader of the army had a son named Hiccup who was could never kill dragons. No one ever imagined he would be an heir to the leader of the army. As the story unfolds Hiccup meets Toothless who cannot fly as he has a broken tail. The relationship between Hiccup and Toothless is what the movie is all about. Even though Toothless is a dangerous fire throwing dragon he has a heart of gold and takes Hiccup as his master and pledges to protect him from all forms of danger.

The story line is not really new, but is done well. It is definitely worth a watch once. A very sweet and cute movie. 

Marley and Me

Ever had a pet dog? or wanted to have a pet dog? Then this movie is for you. Its a movie that travels less on the relationship between husband and wife but more on the relationship the dog shares with every member of the family.

This movie is based on a true story. It starts out with the relationship between Owen Wilson(John) and Jennifer Aniston (Jennifer). A sweet relationship but where Jennifer has planned out the steps of her life. John is worried that after a marriage and job Jennifer might have planned a kid. Since John was not ready for one, his friend advises him to buy a puppy who will keep Jennifer company. That is how John decides to get a pet. This pup they adopt is one hell of a mischievous fellow. He eats anything from a phone to an answering machine and is always jumping around. The way John and Jennifer handle him and train him is the best part of the movie. The fun they have together, the michief, the troubled times they pass through..everything is very memorable and well projected. And all this while John, who is a reporter writes a column which portrays all his experiences with his dog Marley. All these columns were later published as a book after they lose Marley. The burial ceremony they have for Marley was very touching.

All in all the movie is very heart touching and the performances are real like. Marley is the start with all his unpredictable mischief. Enjoy the ups and downs of the life of a dog. A must watch! Recommended!

Final Destination 5

Should you watch this movie? Answer to your question is in the following simple algorithm.
1. Have you watched any of the FD series movies?
2. If yes, move on. If no, do you like movies with senseless killing? If no quit. If yes, move on.
3.  If you have watched any of the FD series movies and have liked them, then move on, else quit.
4. If you don't mind some gore that too in 3D, go for the movie. Else watch it on your TV screen.


Ok, so now moving to the movie. Its nothing new. Its like the previous 4. One accident, some survivors and their fate and their death. The thing that was different in this movie?

1. The 3D effects..they were awesome. I mean yes, they were gory details..but 3D effects were nice :)
2. The end. The connection with the first part..loved it.

Go check out FD5.Enjoy!

Chala Musaddi Office Office

 Yes, we all have seen the TV series office office and Mr. Musaddi Lal. This movie has the same characters, the same corrupt people in the hospital, in the corporator's office, at the samshan bhumi, at ganga dham, at the pension office. In short everywhere.
At the time when India struggles to get the Jan Lokpal Bill to pass, this movie shows how a common man can fight against corruption. You do not need a law to fight against corruption. To fight corruption all you need to do is, FIGHT corruption.

Sure, all I said is true and its not as easy to do as it is to write or enact. This is precisely what I feel went wrong with this movie. Everything here is too easy.

In the movie, Musaddi Lal loses his wife owing to a corrupt doctor. He then decides to take his wife's ashes to the char dham where he meets corrupt ticket collectors and panditjis. Meanwhile the pension officers come to verify if Musaddi Lal is alive, since he hasn't collected his cheque since 3 months. Since they find his house locked, they declare him dead. The fight then begins when he starts a battle wherein he has to prove that he is alive so that he gets the pension he rightfully deserves.
He fights among the people and takes the matter to court, where luckily he finds a judge who is not corrupt. If everyone everywhere is corrupt, how is the judge not corrupt?
So, you know that this is a movie and it will have a happy ending. So that's it. He wins.

It sure does inspire you for a while. It tells you to act against corruption by not being a part of it. Don't bribe anyone to get your work done and that is how you fight corruption. If everyone follows this, you have passed the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Cowboys and Aliens

The story:
The Aliens had just finished making their spaceship that can cross planetary boundaries. They were distressed because they were under the burden of huge loans. So when they heard about cowboys and the goldrush, they set out immediately putting in huge amount of fuel and reaching the planet Earth.

They planted their spaceship in a far away desert and made that their watch tower as well. Aliens went out at night killing people and stealing gold from them. They brought back the gold and melted it to take it away with them. They also brought back humans and operated on them to study their weaknesses. In the act they killed the humans completely. (yup death is their weakness!).
One such thievery got them in contact with Daniel Craig. They brought him in the operation theatre too with his beau but killed his beau which enraged Daniel and he picked up the alien's hand destruction machine and walked out. (Wonder how intelligent the aliens were. A machine they designed works so well for humans too! Amazing!).
As if this was not enough, they then introduce the cowboy feuds and silly rich spoilt son of Harrison Ford who gets caught by the aliens. Now Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig set out to destroy the aliens. One dame also follows in pursuit who is an alien from some other planet (Whoa! so its alien vs alien right?)
Finally after too much hoo haa they discover the alien tower and blow up a portion of it with small bombs.(Wonder how the ship crossing planetary boundaries is so strong eh?) This makes the aliens really angry and they come out in broad daylight and the war starts. People fight valiantly and there are emotional scenes when Harrison Fords adopted son dies (Ok. So this was an emotional drama all this while?)
Then Daniel and the other alien dame go inside the tower to rescue their people. After doing so, the alien dame feels to destroy the tower she will have to sacrifice herself. Which she does. When the aliens start moving to go back to their planet, she uses their own device (remember Daniel Craig had one?) against them and blows it all over the place.

Happy Ending!

Story via Mohsin

Chillar Party

Chillar Party. A gang of kids. All are 1st to 5th standard going kids. Ever wondered where all the innocence that is part of being a kid has disappeared? Its all in this movie. Their expressions, plans, enemies, emotions, fears, enthusiasm - have been wonderfully portrayed in this two hour long movie.

The movie starts out with an introduction of each of the characters (kids). This part is wonderful, DO NOT MISS THIS! The nicknames they keep for each other, hilarious :)

They now have a new enemy - a new kid with a pet dog. The plans they try, so innocently to drive this enemy out of their society only hurts the new kid on the block. Even though these kids are so young at age, they realise that they cannot hurt anyone else-even though he maybe a stranger. (Wonder why grown ups don't realise something this easy). This chillar party then befriends the new kid and the friendship blossoms. The "friend in need is a friend indeed" attitude helps the new kid maintain his position as a "car-washer" in the society.

What then starts is a bollywood style twist. Enter politics. These kids take on a politician to save their favourite pet dog from being captured by the "stray dog" van. This is a little exaggerated, but I liked the "battle hour" at the end. Brings out a message so strong that I wish every grown up would watch this just for that.

The direction is good. The acting skills of all those teeny weeny kids..is superb! The story telling is also nice. 

Go watch this movie to feel like a kid, to remember your childhood masti, to enjoy and relish the innocence of these kids, which is highly missing these days. Enjoy! I'd say this movie is a must watch, atleast once!

--

Zaru

Delhi Belly

I'm not sure why people are blowing out of proportion what this movie brings. It brings you stuff that happens inside a toilet and I am sure, this is not what modern cinema is! There is something known as "abstraction" which can be used efficiently. There is something known as aesthetic cinematography, which does not need abstraction but it displays the truth with so much beauty that something as gross as sh!t can appear pleasant. This is one of the complaints I have with this movie.
The second is, just because its an adult movie doesn't mean that you should limit the words used to only f*** words! Every alternate word being a gaali does not make it a *bold* movie.
The language and the cinematography for a few scenes could have made the movie better.
As for the story, there is nothing new. Its the same madness, crazy life depicted in Shaitan. The pace of the movie is not fast enough to make your adrenaline pump neither is it too slow to put you to sleep.

The good part about the movie? yes the dialogues minus the gaalis are witty. Some sequences are hilarious. The background score is nice. The item number by Aamir is funny. The song "I hate you (like I love you)" is awesome!

I did not expect cheap slapstick humour from Aamir Khan. A thumbs down!

--
Zaru

X-Men First class

The movie posters had all new faces and that made me tell myself, this movie is going to be a disaster. But the reviews and good vibes I was getting from all around, made me reconsider my decision.

The movie is a prequel to all the X-Men movies. It is the prequel to Wolverine too.

The movie has an amazing story line and is pretty fast paced. You hardly get a breather between all the events that take place. You remain glued to your seat right from the start till the end.

The era depicted in the movie is one in which not all were aware of the existence of mutants. The mutants knew they were different and tried their best to fit into the life of normal people.


A rogue mutant (Sebastian) has set out to free the earth from the burden of normal, weak humans. A CIA agent unknowingly sees someone disappear in thin air and comes to think that mutants might exist. When she hears about Professor Xavier's thesis on mutation, she catches up with him to discuss the possibility. These two then join forces to protect the very existence of humans against Sebastian's army. The story just sprints from here picking up more characters on the way.

The performances by each and everyone are great. The direction worth a mention.The action is absorbing, the effects interesting and the story..well as I keep saying is very well knit. Wolverine also shows up in his usual fould mood, for a miniscule moment much to the joy of everyone in the audience.
This movie has made me want to watch all the X-Men movies again and I'd like to coax you to go and watch it if you already haven't. Enjoy!

--
Zaru

Pyar ka punchnama

Its a guys movie. Gals can watch it if they don't mind getting a little offended and finding out some extremist behavior traits in their species! (There I said it. Its true..about the characters in the movie. But, not all girls are the extreme characters portrayed in the movie)

The movie starts off with the routine lives of three IT professionals. One who is always complaining about his current job, whereas the other two don't really care about  the kind of work their doing. They are room-mates, stay, eat, drink and have fun together. Their lives are pretty usual, until they meet their girls. The movie then proceeds as to how these girls interfere in everything they do, use them and then throw them away like the wrappers of a chocolate and basically make their life hell!

The three girls in the movie are:
Neha : The control freak
Charu : The long distance chick
Riya : The can't say NO gal

The movie is well directed. The story is well told. The acting is good, could have been better. The guys are way better than the girls though. The end is a bit melodramatic and stretched. But overall a movie you must surely go and watch to have a good laugh.
The reason why this is movie is so enjoyable is, even though this is reality, it doesn't want you to weep (like some KJo movies try and try to make you want to weep). It brings out the truth and emotions all too effortlessly.

The best part of the movie : do not miss the awesome dialogue that two guys share when one is telling the other the problems he is facing with his girlfriend. Hilarious! (note : this can give ur bfs many more dialogues to use when you act stupid :p)

--
Zaru

Shaitan

An Anurag Kashyap movie..had high expectations. Only that it was produced by him, but directed by Bejoy Nambiar. Nevertheless it did have moments of brilliance in direction.

The story is about Kalki (Amy a.k.a Amrita) whose family has shifted to Mumbai from L.A. She meets a K.C. who is another rich spolit son. She then joins his gang of friends, who belive they are enjoying life to the fullest by indulging in drugs and alcohol. One such moment of brashness and drunk driving changes their lives forever. The story ahead is a ride full of fear, confusion, greed, ego, madness, corruption, honesty, an urge to clean the system and finding one's true self. Its no doubt a hell of a ride, with no time to think what will happen next. Rajeev Khandelwal always does well. Kalki, no doubt is an intense actor. The rest of the cast is not as impressive, but they manage to do some justice to their roles.

All in all, a nice watch. Could have been better, but deserves to be mentioned. The best part of the movie..rather two parts were very well done.
1. The incident that changed their lives. A littlt obscure at first, but very very effective.
2. The scenes towards the end, where Amy remembers her last moments with her mother. Brings out the unstableness of her mind, which we keep registering throughout the movie but never really think about.

--
Zaru

Source code

I had great expectations from this movie. One being the name of this movie..so appealing to all software engineers. Second, well.. no..it was just one reason.

The concept was great, create a new universe which is an exact copy of this one, with a little time lag. All the characters in the new universe are also a copy (no reference). The events that take place in the new universe are also a copy of the original. Sound interesting? Yes, the program that did this was called source code. One more interesting part is that it can send you into the universe, as whatever you would like to be. A handicapped man could be sent in with all his limbs intact. Sound wonderful? Yes.

Well, this concept didn't hit home when you saw the movie. The direction is below average, which makes you feel yes..why..sigh..yawn..again? but he was just here.
The direction was as I mentioned earlier not to the mark. And hence you turned towards the performances for some hope, but that didn't save the movie too. I mean everything was so monotonous after some time that the one and a half hour of the movie seemed like ages.

So in essence this movie is a nice concept gone totally waste! 

Haunted

This is Bollywood's entry into the 3D movie world. Nice effort, could have been better. Some scenes in the movie appear blurred. But, the horror part makes good use of the fact that it is a 3D movie. When you are totally at ease, a scary face pops out right in your face! So, the movie has the chills and the thrills a horror movie should offer.
The acting..is sad. The actor even sadder. The actress..she looks cute but that impression is valid until she starts talking. The dialogues..well they did make me laugh (This was supposed to be a serious kinda movie :P)
The direction..I'd give it a nice try. The music..hardly matters. The background score..good.

Besides that, its a typical bollywood masala movie. You name the concept and it is there in the movie. pyaar, mohabbat, izhaar, ikraar, judaai, takraar etc etc. And then, you wouldn't believe it, the movie also has a twist of time travel to it :D

So, the story starts with our hero coming all the way from US to complete a deal..selling this age old villa. He reaches the villa only to find out that there is something wrong there. He hears someone playing the piano and then someone yelling out her guts. He has to find out the truth about this, before the new owner turns up in 10 days. So, he goes to talk to this uncle who stays in the same city and has obviously heard about the villa. And when his uncle refuses to believe that there is a ghost, our hero says "Mein pagal nahi hoon. Maine MBA Stanford University se kiya hai". Okay, so point proven :P
So anyhow, he tries seeking help from a "spiritual walker" But she gives up saying that this soul is 80 years old and has grown very strong and evil. But the hero won't give up. (Would have been better if he gave up on acting actually :P) Some tantrik baba then sends him back 80 years in time. (Ohh how wonderful, bollywood comes up with time travel..but not with the use of some big machine...but some tantrik) Now he tries to prevent the evil teacher from becoming a soul but he doesn't succeed (obviously) and so has to protect the girl, because he has fallen head over heels in love with her (I wonder how anyone could like her voice?) Then follows the drama of the two innocent love birds trying and escaping the evil spirit to reach some other tantrik baba who tells them how they can free the evil spirit to send it back to its right place. There is running and screaming and yelling and destruction and howling and a scary background score which finally ends with the hero returning to his present and the actress being free. (Whoa that was a lot to write)
For the whole story with details..you can read this

If your bored..and are craving for some horror :P this is the movie you want to go to. But, go with a group who will not shy away from passing witty and funny comments. Thats the best part of the movie. The crowd in the theatre was so jovial that I ended up enjoying this movie more than any other comedy movie I have seen. Awesome fun :)

--
Zaru

Scream 4

Let me finish this one in a few words. Don't go watch it. Seriously, there's nothing new in this movie. The same old someone stabs someone, and in the end it turns out to be someone they knew, who started all this to fulfill his own selfish needs.
Yes, SCREAM never had a story ever right? True, but then there is no element of surprise too that gets you to scream even once throughout the entire roll. I couldn't even act scared even for a moment.
Performances? Do I need to mention? I mean are they even needed?
There also isn't any skin show which most of the horror/thriller movies sell. So in short nothing should make you want to watch this movie.
And the reason for the killings! Its even more hilarious. "Because I don't want to work and earn money and fame. I need a shortcut" Seriously? I mean seriously?

Please don't bother!

--
Zaru

Rio

This is a movie that people of all ages are bound to enjoy. Its the story of Blue and his journey through life to find his purpose.

Blue is a macaw who has been domesticated since before he even learnt to fight for his own sustenance. And so he does not live in the wild, nor has he ever used his God given(okay..not given to him, but rather something that has evolved) gift of flight. Blue is a nerd who lives in Minnesotta. His life takes a complete u-turn when he meets Jewel who lives in the wild. Enjoys her gift of flight and freedom to the hilt. The turn of events after they meet is rather like a typical bollywood movie, but nevertheless very well done. The animation needs a special mention. Very real like display of emotions..very well done!


Each time you watch the movie, you are bound to find something worth a mention. Be it the colors, the animation, the screenplay, the songs, the background score...everything is wonderful! The end is very emotional when the point driven home is that love gives you wings. It gives you confidence to do what you never dreamt you could even attempt! Nice!


One sequence that I particularly enjoyed is when Blue calculates all that he needs to fly..like a typical nerd. Hilarious!


All i'd say is..go watch this movie. Its worth a watch on the big screen!


--
Zaru

No one killed Jessica

The title was interesting. The trailers surely promised a narrative that would give you goosebumps, which is why I wanted to watch this movie. But it disappointed.
Script : Was stretched out of proportion. Drama is a part of bollywood, but there is a way of portraying it.
Direction by Raj kumar Gupta, not exceptional. The movie just failed to have an effect on the audience. Where with a true story like this one, I should have been shattered/scared/nervous as well as relived finally when justice was delivered, all at the same time. Instead I just sat there, waiting for the movie to come to an end.
Storytelling, I didn't like it much either. One scene just did not flow into the other. None of the characters were built up.
Acting. Well now this was something I was looking forward to.
Rani : Was good. Nothing different from her previous roles. Could have done much much better. She hardly had any role, to build her character.
Vidya : She had almost all of the movie to herself. I was looking forward to watching her, as the distressed sister. But her acting fell flat. I agree that the role was demanding, and Viday has the potential, but this one she just did not do well. Some variation in expression? If not a change in expression to depict that you have gone numb, some change in the dialogue delivery? No? Everything was just too monotonous. You as an audience just could not feel her pain, her anguish, her distress, her frustration. Where were all these emotions?
The only scene I liked is, when Vidya's father reacts to the news of his wife's death. The only scene, in the entire movie which gives you goosebumps.
Myra : She didn't have much to offer. And so towards the end, they let her shoot her model profile for free. Why was that part at the end needed? Didn't the director give her enough of screen space?

A very disappointing movie. The only saving grace being the music of the movie. Very nice job done by Amit Trivedi. Nice background score too, but not well backed up by the direction and acting. I'd say don't bother!
--
Zaru