Well done Abba...well done Shyam Benegal

Its a nice, light, jovial movie that portrays the serious not so good problem of corruption. I won't let out the plot just so that you get over your inertia and go and watch the movie. However, I'll say just this...the story is the usual one but the portrayal, the way the story unfolds is refreshing.

The overall look of the movie is a simple village in Hyderabad. The actors Boman Irani, Minissha Lamba, Ila Arun all have done a brilliant job with their Hyderabadi accents and pronunciations. The performances are great. Boman Irani's dialogue delivery and his timing is just incomparable. The dialogues are very witty and delivered flawlessly by the actors. There are no unnecessary songs and you never need to ask "ye movie kab khatam hogi?". The only part that was not needed at all was Sonali Kulkarni's role. I wonder how she agreed to play the part of a wife to a husband obsessed with the idea of sex. All the so-called steamy scenes are pushed in for no rhyme or reason.The movie could have surely done without her role. Ravi Kissen her husband in the movie, obviously plays his natural.

The last part(I won't give details) , the award ceremony is just hilarious. Go have a good laugh and enjoy the movie! I'd say "A must watch"!

Shaapit

Its a Vikram Bhat movie the director of Raaz (and 1920 too they say, but I don't feel its worth mentioning..)

Anyhow, so...Shaapit. Debut movie for Aditya Narayan, who became popular (and girls went crazy whenever he came on stage) after hosting a singing competition on Zee(IIRC). He has done a good job for his first and it would surely be fun to see him do more roles where acting skills are all that the script depends on.

The story is about Kaaya(Shubh Joshi) who is under a curse and Aman(Aditya Narayan) who is in love with her and pledges to remain so till eternity. Kaaya's curse will not let her get married, and if she decides to do so, she will be killed. Aman will not let the curse do them apart and hence starts his journey to achieve the impossible. In his quest he meets a professor who has studied spirits and written a detailed book about live examples. The professor will not help Aman, just because fighting with spirits is not a cake walk and he can't stain his hands with Aman's blood (A typical dialogue you'd say right...but maybe the script writer didn't realise that in bollywood the lead protagonist (male) never loses :P)
So, Aman takes on a challenge and proves to the professor that he has what it takes, to fight the spirits (How he does so, find out by reading the book page 117 (IIRC) :P)

The story is quite believable and the effects are damn good, as per bollywood standards. The sound and light effects are good. If a little more time would have spent on effects and aatmas the 'thrill' i.e. the effect the movie should have, would have been noticed atleast. The script is a bit stretched towards the end which makes you ask "ye aatma kab nasht hogi?".

Overall, I'd say for the effects is a good watch. Acting is not bad. Direction is good too.

Harsihchandrachi Factory

Its a true story about the first Indian motion film made ever. It was Phalke who fought the odds and the crude mentality of Indians at that time and setup this film making industry in India that today earns has shown its presence all over the world.

Back then, this industry was new and no one knew how it worked. Working in a film was also considered a madness and was looked down upon as a profession. However with the never ending support of his wife and kids as well as some of his well wishers his quest for a new business setup and his journey till success is what the story revolves around.

A brilliantly made film with no unnecessary filmy masala proceeding in the right direction and never letting you get bored. This film keeps you glued to your seat while you enjoy some funny lines and more importantly the perseverance of the man in question.

I'd say its a must watch!

Alice In Wonderland

Its a movie made on the very famous 'Alice in Wonderland' story we all must have surely heard of, or even followed the cartoon series that came on TV when we were kids.
Its the same story with the same characters.
Performances are good. Make up is awesome. Direction is good. And top of all, the 3d animation is wonderful. Go if you want to enjoy the 3d effect, its very nice.
Anyway, after the movie starts it gets a little bit boring and stretched towards the end. So, a good family and kids watch I'd say.

Enjoy!

Atithi tum kab jaoge

Its a simple, fun, not so usual but not so different story.

In today's 'time is money' world where family life is diminishing how would one cope up with the demands of a guest, who lives the age old way i.e. get up early, have a bath and then make food else its unauspicious etc etc.

Paresh Rawal steals the show with his brilliant acting which makes it look so natural. Konkana is as usual natural but hardly stands out as outstanding. Ajay Devgan with his usual 'im so coll, im so bhola bhala' expressions does his bit in keeping up with Konkana. The direction is good, but could have been better.
The background score and the song 'atitihi tum kab jaoge' is nice.

Story as I said is simple and some moments make you think if the way our family culture is diminishing is really helpful. What with the current scenario where both parents are working, the child is at school and with friends, he hardly gets time with his parents etc etc.

Anyhow, a nice one time watch. Go enjoy!

My name is Khan

The label says its 'worth ur time once' as well as 'don't bother'. Why the confusion? Because its an out and out bollywood masala movie. So those who enjoy masala will like the movie.

The movie is about this man called Rizwan Khan who is autistic. The first part about his life as a child, his intelligence are all good. I would have preferred if the movie procceeded in the same direction. Anyway, so then he meets the love of his life, who is a single mother and has gone through hardships to raise her son (I told you...it has all the masala needed). So he marries this girl, whose voice makes him skip a heart beat (I guess that's a valid reason right? :P).

Okay so the movie proceeds and his son is now Sameer Khan and is a muslim instead of a Hindu and then calamity strikes and there is 9/11. So all the muslims are treated as terrorists and one such a fight kills Sameer. So now Mandira (Kajol) obviously blames Rizwan (I told you masala) and tells him to meet the president and tell him that 'My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist'. Okay so he takes up the task and sets out to accomplish it. Then as he is the hero, he faces lots of problems helps many people and also helps the FBI to catch hold of a muslim instigator who is trying to get people to fight against the Americans in the name of jihad. Then our hero also helps people who have faced a terrible storm somewhere in Virginia and then Khan is all over the news. So the president now decides to meet Khan, what a twist :P

But then again before happy ending we have a Khan who is almost killed by some enraged supporter of the muslim instigator. Wow what a climax! :P

Okay, SRK's acting is good. But the movie, I didn't like it. Its full of bollywood masala, nothing new. So you decide if you would rather not bother, or watch it once.

Karthik Calling Karthik

This unique movie name, started many funny PJs :P one of them being (Im assuming I have been granted permission for posting your patented jokes :P) 'karthik calling karthik, toh engage tone lagega' :P

Anyway, the promos made me want to watch the movie. The story seemed to be good and different, and so off we went for the movie.Reviews that we heard before the movie were 50% people found it boring, 50% found it out of the box. So with mixed expectations we were all set to experience KCK.

The movie is about a weird call from the same person to the same person. Unbelievable but a nice thought. The movie starts with Farhan being a simpleton, not being able to refuse anything he is asked to do. And then this weird call changes his life. He gets the love of his life and everything is going on smoothly until the day he tells his Shona about this mysterious caller. ANyway, I won't pen down the entire story here, just in case you still haven't watched it.

As for the story, it is a nice fresh concept. It is done well but not very practical. The psychiatrist for example is doesn't help the patient in anyway. A psychiatrist usually listens to his/her patient and very nicely and calmly talks the patient out of his/her problems. But here our doctor says 'Move on.' 'Let me come to your place at 5am to confirm if these calls exist'. Utterly not plausible. Some of the dialogues are nice and witty. The love story is nice but nothing very new. Farhan's acting is no doubt superb. And as for Deepika as usual a little overdone.

The movie gets a little boring in between and it feels a bit stretched towards the end. But overall its a fresh concept which could have been made a little better. A one time watch I'd say.

The Namesake

This movie by Mira Nair, I was supposed to have watched much earlier as early as 4 years ago!
Anyway, make sure you don't miss it, if you haven't seen it already.

I won't say its a masterpiece of direction, infact I found some parts and scenes rather patchy and out of place. But the story and the narration are too good. The way marriages took place earlier, one meeting and its decided. And the funny part, the female is asked to sing or recite something (wonder if they are looking for a bride or a trained singer!)
The way the relationship between husband and wife develops is not emphasised as much, but the loyalty and trust and compatibility they develop after years of marriage is very well portrayed. The children, born and brought up in the USofA, can hardly be expected to learn and cherish and follow Indian values, and this in turn results in a weak family bond. The children stay away from home and are least bothered about their parents.
What changes things, is Irfan Khan's death. The way the part Irfan's death is narrated is touching! His son's reaction and the change afterwards is nicely described. And the story that proceeds from here is touching and practical. Ashima's (Tabu) daighter settles down and her son, after a broken up marriage starts life anew.

I'd say a nice movie to watch once, for the performances and the story telling!