The title of a movie being 'Aloo Chaat' itself brings a smile on our faces. The movie live up to its name and is more than a giggle or two. Its a khatta meetha comedy which has amazing one liners. Director Robby Grewal who had directed one of my favourite movies 'Samay' has done a wonderful job yet again.
Aloo Chaat has a hoard of comedians who are true to their genre. A special mention for Sanjay Mishra who is growing to be an extremely funny actor in hindi cinema. If you thought his 'Pinto(s)' character from the movie 'One Two Three' was funny, then watch out for him in this movie.
Nikhil (Aftab) has returned from the US after completing his education and his family decides to marry him off. Nikhil doesnt have a good rapport with his dad, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and hence confides to his uncle(Manoj Pahwa) that he actually loves a Muslim girl, Aamna (Aamna Sharif).
His uncle helps him to devise a plan to make Aamna win over the family members' hearts. Their plan is based on transpose DDLJ logic. They decide that Aftab will fake his love with an american girl, Niki, and Aamna will come in as her friend and win over everyone, much like SRK wins over Kajol's family.
The rest of the story is based on this plot. Theres a twist when Nikhil's father gets a heart attack and he decides to get Nikhil and Niki married the next day. Watch how Nikhil gets out of this one.
The movie is full of very funny one liners. The dialogues are simply awesome. Hats off to Divy Nidhi Sharma. But there are a couple of minuses too. The build up to the love between the lead pair of Aftab and Aamna is missing and hence you do not feel for those characters as much as you felt for a SRK and Kajol in DDLJ. The music is very boring and one can easily fast forward them without losing too much narrative in the movie.
Of the actors Manoj Pahwa and Sanjay Mishra lead the pack. Their comic timing is awesome. Kulbhushan Kharbanda is good in certain scenes but for the rest of the part he adds more ham scenes to his repertoire. I guess we should call him 'The Hamster' by now. I guess some one like Om Puri would have done a much better job. The rumored real life love birds Aftab and Aamna are okay in the movie. They do not get a meaty part of the funny lines. Aftab is much more capable and should select roles carefully. Aamna Sharif looks drop dead gorgeous.
Director Robby Grewal is joining my favourite director's list. So far all his three movies have been successful at entertaining me. 'Samay', 'Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar(MP3)' and this one. Good job Mr. Grewal. Stand up and take a bow. I just wish he could get as much hype and recognition for his work as his counterparts do.
Rating: *** (Do watch it. Very entertaining. Paisa vasool)
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Gulaal - Thought provoking and Disturbing
Anurag Kashyap definitely has a style of story telling and abstract seems to be his favourite kind. Although Gulaal is no Black Friday, but it has to be one of Anurag Kashyap's finest work. Its like a little jigsaw puzzle which unfolds as pieces fit into place one by one. Gulaal is not the kind of movie that would appeal to everyone. Its not the type of movie where you sit with a bag of popcorn to enjoy and relax. Its a movie with a message. Neither is it a kind of a movie where in you can leave the room for an odd minute or two and then understand the on-going after coming back.
Gulaal has multiple threads running at one time and Anurag Kashyap tries to unearth many issues in one movie. There is the student politics, along with hard core ragging. In its parallel runs a fight for a separate state and on another totally different track runs a love triangle. A drawback of this scheme is that it makes the movie very confusing at times.
Dilip Singh, played by Raja Choudhary, comes to Jaipur for his higher education and meets the rest of the characters in the process. His room mate Ran Sa (Abhimanyu Singh), is an easy going, good for nothing rich kid. Unhappy with his room mate Dilip goes in search of an hostel and gets badly ragged. He meets Anuja there, played by Jesse Randhava, who also undergoes ragging of the top degree. When Ran Sa comes to know about this he urges Dilip to take revenge. They go for help to Dukki Banna ( Kay Kay Menon) as he is one of the royal bloods and has a huge clout.
Impressed by Ran Sa's heroics, in proving his Rajput blood by taking revenge, Dukki Banna urges him to stand for the GS elections. Ran Sa's main rival in the elections is Kiran (Ayesha Mohan). Kiran is backed strongly by her brother Karan (Aditya Shrivastav, better known as Inspector Abhijeet from CID for us commoners). Karan and Kiran are Ran Sa's illegal step siblings whose sole motive is to gain their father's name in public.
Ran Sa gets killed in the process of fighting the elections and Dukki Banna decides to put up Dilip in his place to get sympathy votes. Dilip wins the election and from there on starts his downfall. Kiran allures him into sleeping with him and makes him fall in love with him. Dilip starts defying Dukki Banna under Kiran's influence. Dukki Banna tries to show Dilip that his vision is bigger than just student elections. His main aim is to free Rajputs and fight for a separate state of Rajputaana and college elections is a way of raising money for his freedom struggle.
What happens next is for you to find out. Will Dilip understand Anuja's true love and Kiran's machinations? Will Karan and Kiran finally get recognized by their father's name in public?
The major drawback of this movie is that it runs in parallel over many issues and gets confusing at times. Also some of the issues could have been an individual movie in their own right and hence one feels that it was not given enough footage. There are too many characters in the movie who have no significance. Jesse Randhava's character and her angle could have totally been left out. Mahie Gill is wasted. Dukki Banna's elder brother's angle is totally abstract and one doesnt know why it is there.
On the positives, this film tackles with a lot of the social issues that still exist in India. The influence of rich people, the weakness of the police force in such areas of the country, the ragging and student politics. All these aspects make the movie an intriguing watch.
The music is not at all inspiring and if it would not have taken the story forward one would not have watched the songs. Some of the lyrics are well written though.
Acting wise the entire ensemble has done a tremendous job. Kay Kay leads the pack once again with his impressive performance. Aditya Shrivastav (Inspector Abhijeet) is outstanding but should have got more footage. Raja Choudhary, Ayesha Mohan are good. Abhimanyu Singh and Deepak Dobriyal are outstanding in their cameos.
Raja Choudhary doubles up as a writer and does a decent job. Anurag Kashyap is top notch in his direction. A tighter script and better ediing could have done the film a world of good.
Rating: **1/2 (One time watch)
Gulaal has multiple threads running at one time and Anurag Kashyap tries to unearth many issues in one movie. There is the student politics, along with hard core ragging. In its parallel runs a fight for a separate state and on another totally different track runs a love triangle. A drawback of this scheme is that it makes the movie very confusing at times.
Dilip Singh, played by Raja Choudhary, comes to Jaipur for his higher education and meets the rest of the characters in the process. His room mate Ran Sa (Abhimanyu Singh), is an easy going, good for nothing rich kid. Unhappy with his room mate Dilip goes in search of an hostel and gets badly ragged. He meets Anuja there, played by Jesse Randhava, who also undergoes ragging of the top degree. When Ran Sa comes to know about this he urges Dilip to take revenge. They go for help to Dukki Banna ( Kay Kay Menon) as he is one of the royal bloods and has a huge clout.
Impressed by Ran Sa's heroics, in proving his Rajput blood by taking revenge, Dukki Banna urges him to stand for the GS elections. Ran Sa's main rival in the elections is Kiran (Ayesha Mohan). Kiran is backed strongly by her brother Karan (Aditya Shrivastav, better known as Inspector Abhijeet from CID for us commoners). Karan and Kiran are Ran Sa's illegal step siblings whose sole motive is to gain their father's name in public.
Ran Sa gets killed in the process of fighting the elections and Dukki Banna decides to put up Dilip in his place to get sympathy votes. Dilip wins the election and from there on starts his downfall. Kiran allures him into sleeping with him and makes him fall in love with him. Dilip starts defying Dukki Banna under Kiran's influence. Dukki Banna tries to show Dilip that his vision is bigger than just student elections. His main aim is to free Rajputs and fight for a separate state of Rajputaana and college elections is a way of raising money for his freedom struggle.
What happens next is for you to find out. Will Dilip understand Anuja's true love and Kiran's machinations? Will Karan and Kiran finally get recognized by their father's name in public?
The major drawback of this movie is that it runs in parallel over many issues and gets confusing at times. Also some of the issues could have been an individual movie in their own right and hence one feels that it was not given enough footage. There are too many characters in the movie who have no significance. Jesse Randhava's character and her angle could have totally been left out. Mahie Gill is wasted. Dukki Banna's elder brother's angle is totally abstract and one doesnt know why it is there.
On the positives, this film tackles with a lot of the social issues that still exist in India. The influence of rich people, the weakness of the police force in such areas of the country, the ragging and student politics. All these aspects make the movie an intriguing watch.
The music is not at all inspiring and if it would not have taken the story forward one would not have watched the songs. Some of the lyrics are well written though.
Acting wise the entire ensemble has done a tremendous job. Kay Kay leads the pack once again with his impressive performance. Aditya Shrivastav (Inspector Abhijeet) is outstanding but should have got more footage. Raja Choudhary, Ayesha Mohan are good. Abhimanyu Singh and Deepak Dobriyal are outstanding in their cameos.
Raja Choudhary doubles up as a writer and does a decent job. Anurag Kashyap is top notch in his direction. A tighter script and better ediing could have done the film a world of good.
Rating: **1/2 (One time watch)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Top 10 songs that might have missed your ears..
Hi folks,
The other day while chatting with a friend of mine I came to know that he had not heard one of my favourite songs from this 1st quarter of 2009. Hence I am posting a list of the top 10 songs of 2009 so far, which according to me were very good but might have got skipped from your playlist in the midst of some other famous numbers.
Note: This list doesn’t contain the obvious hits like Masakalli and Maahi (from Raaz TMC) etc.
10.] Hey Kala Bandar – Delhi 6
This Rahman number is very situational in the movie and one doesn't appreciate the track till one has seen the movie. Its a very hip hop kind of a song. The song has some shades of Shankar Mahadevan's Breathless and Rahman's own Shano Shano from yuvvraaj
9.] Duniya – Dev D
This is a funfilled track from debutante Amit Trivedi with nice lyrics
8.] Tere naina – CC2C
Agreed Chandni Chowk 2 China was a below the mark movie, but the songs were nice. This track is from Shankar Ehsaan Loy. A soft romantic number which was horribly dealt with in the movie.
7.] Tenu Leke – Jai Veeru
Bappa Lahiri pulled out a couple of gems in this movie. Really catchy song. Omer Inayat does a wonderful job with the vocals.
6.] Chak Lein De – CC2C
Another CC2C number. This one is composed and sung by Kailash Kher. This one is a peppy number but again shot very disappointingly in the movie.
5.] Pardesi – Dev D
Amit Trivedi pulls out yet another awesome number.
4.] Sufi – Jai Veeru
This is an awesome song with an awesome video. Bappa Lahiri produces a gem. The singer Saim brings soul to the song. His voice is uncannily similar to Atif Aslam.
3.] Saawre – Teri Justajoo Roop Kumar Rathod
This one is from an album. Roop Kumar Rathod takes all the honours for this one and really gets in that sufi mode.
2.] Soniyo (Krishna) – Raaz TMC
Most of you might have heard the Sonu Nigam version of this song. Krishna's version is equally nice. It is sort of an accoustic version with nice guitar strumming. The composer is Pritam so dont know if its lifted from somewhere. But till we have proof, Pritam take a bow for this number.
1.] Yeh Zindagi bhi - Luck by chance
This song has a lethal combination. Shankar Ehsaan Loy as composers and Shekhar (from Vishal Shekhar) on the vocals. This song is simply mesmerizing. It just takes you into trance.
Well these were my choices, so some of you are bound to differ. Let me know if i missed out on an obvious number. Cheers !!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Jai Veeru - Masala Gone all wrong
In times when Hindi cinema is improving by leaps and bounds, here comes a movie, which makes me wonder what made writer Vekeana Dhillon to write it or director Puneet Sira to direct it and above all what made me to watch it?
This movie is a logic less, nonsensical affair with no flow in the story or direction. There have been logic less movies in the past (alluding to Govinda's movies) but they have had some good point or the other which would make it entertaining. This is a movie which makes you think that each scene was shot in a different month. Such is the poor connectivity.
Veeru, Kunal Khemu, is a small time crook who steals cars. Jai played by Fardeen Khan is a car mechanic, who by the way has a very upscale lifestyle by the means of a mere car mechanic. Jai and Veeru bump into one another in a party and click instantly and become best of friends and escalate to brotherhood in one night. They come up with an ingeneous plan of stealing cars together as they might form a lethal combination.
Veeru later introduces Jai to his boss Arbaaz Khan who is the bad guy in the movie. Arbaaz Khan runs a fake note distribution racket. In a turn of events differences arise between Jai and Veeru and the latter shoots the former in the head in an accident. The bullet hits Jai smack on the forehead, but voila Jai gets all better without even a scar on his forhead. Apparently the doctors fit in a metal plate due to which there is no scar. :) Yes its that kind of a movie.
Jai and Veeru meet again and this time they are on a same mission, that of exposing Arbaaz Khan and his racket. Will they be able to co-exist together? Find out for yourselves.
Bappa Lahiri's music is good in parts. Two songs stand out the most, Sufi and Tenu Leke. These songs have been shot well too and are quite watchable. The rest of them are plain ok to skippable. All the songs are unnecessarily injected into the screenplay and have absolutely no significance in the story.
Fardeen Khan has been reinventing himself to become the undisputed king of boredom and this film is no different. I wonder what Sajid Khan must have gone through to pull off such a fine performance from FK in Heyy babbyy. Kunal Khemu repeats his Dhol like performance and brings nothing new to the table. Dia Mirza and Arbaaz Khan are okay. Anjana Sukhani, I dont know why she was in the movie. She did not have even 1 relevant scene out of the 3 scenes which she had.
If you thought "I - Proud to be an Indian" was Puneet Sira's worst work then please watch this movie. This movie makes "I" look like a master piece.
Rating: 1/2* (Skip it ! The half star is for the 2 songs by Bappa Lahiri. You can watch them on youtube)
This movie is a logic less, nonsensical affair with no flow in the story or direction. There have been logic less movies in the past (alluding to Govinda's movies) but they have had some good point or the other which would make it entertaining. This is a movie which makes you think that each scene was shot in a different month. Such is the poor connectivity.
Veeru, Kunal Khemu, is a small time crook who steals cars. Jai played by Fardeen Khan is a car mechanic, who by the way has a very upscale lifestyle by the means of a mere car mechanic. Jai and Veeru bump into one another in a party and click instantly and become best of friends and escalate to brotherhood in one night. They come up with an ingeneous plan of stealing cars together as they might form a lethal combination.
Veeru later introduces Jai to his boss Arbaaz Khan who is the bad guy in the movie. Arbaaz Khan runs a fake note distribution racket. In a turn of events differences arise between Jai and Veeru and the latter shoots the former in the head in an accident. The bullet hits Jai smack on the forehead, but voila Jai gets all better without even a scar on his forhead. Apparently the doctors fit in a metal plate due to which there is no scar. :) Yes its that kind of a movie.
Jai and Veeru meet again and this time they are on a same mission, that of exposing Arbaaz Khan and his racket. Will they be able to co-exist together? Find out for yourselves.
Bappa Lahiri's music is good in parts. Two songs stand out the most, Sufi and Tenu Leke. These songs have been shot well too and are quite watchable. The rest of them are plain ok to skippable. All the songs are unnecessarily injected into the screenplay and have absolutely no significance in the story.
Fardeen Khan has been reinventing himself to become the undisputed king of boredom and this film is no different. I wonder what Sajid Khan must have gone through to pull off such a fine performance from FK in Heyy babbyy. Kunal Khemu repeats his Dhol like performance and brings nothing new to the table. Dia Mirza and Arbaaz Khan are okay. Anjana Sukhani, I dont know why she was in the movie. She did not have even 1 relevant scene out of the 3 scenes which she had.
If you thought "I - Proud to be an Indian" was Puneet Sira's worst work then please watch this movie. This movie makes "I" look like a master piece.
Rating: 1/2* (Skip it ! The half star is for the 2 songs by Bappa Lahiri. You can watch them on youtube)
Sunday, March 15, 2009
13B = Superstitious + Paranormal - Belief
Gone are the days when we used to see a giant Ramsay ghost lurking in the shadows with blood drooping from his hands. Post RGV's Bhoot, hindi cinema horror movies finally make some sense.
Generally horror movies are a suspense thriller at heart. 13B is no different. There are no twisted faced, blood drooping monsters/ ghosts in this movie. This movie focuses more on the paranormal activities which give in a horror angle. The movie has some serious flaws as far as the length is concerned. Its a tad bit too long. The songs just prove to be speed breakers and should have been omitted. Attention has been paid to minor detail in the flashbacks which is one of the best things I noticed.
Manohar played by R.Madhavan and his family move into a new home. Manohar and his elder brother have taken a huge amount of loan in order to buy this house. From the outset strange incidents take place in the house but Manohar and his family don't give it much of a heed.
After a few days Manohar starts to realize that somethin is wrong in the house but doesnt utter a word as his mother being superstitious would make them to change the house and the brothers wont be able to afford that.
One fine day, while Manohar is at home he stumbles upon a TV serial which apparently shows exactly what has been happening to Manohar. The serial ends with an incident which takes place in Manohar's real life. In one such incident he loses his to be born child. Manohar is convinced that the serial is related to the unfortunate incidents in his real life and starts observing the serial to prevent his family from getting into danger.
He consults his friend about these activities and decides to unearth the mystery behind the serial. He seeks help from his family doctor, played by Sachin Khedekar, who has researched a lot on paranormal activities too.
Will Manohar be successful in deciphering the paranormal activities and the mystery behind the serial? Or will the ghosts win and force Manohar to leave the house?
Note: Director Vikram Kumar may have pulled off a genius little taunt at housewives that the real ghosts of the modern world are the TV serials.
The music by Shankar Ehsan Loy has to be their weakest work. Come to think of it, I have not heard a SEL album yet which has not a single hummable tune. Moreover the songs are of fast forward variety and the picturization doesnt make the viewer engrossed in watching the song. They could have been easily edited.
R.Madhavan is an accomplished actor down south and has given some great performances in hindi movies too. He starts off on a very poor note in the movie trying to immitate SRK of the 90's. But thankfully he comes into his own, half way through the movie and delivers a fine performance. Neetu Chandra as Manohar's wife is good. I wish we could see more of her. She just gives the impression that she is a bundle of talent waiting to explode. Sachin Khedekar is good as usual. Deepak Dobriyal is very good in his cameo. Poonam Dhillon as Manohar's mother is extremely irritating. I have to rate this as her poorest performance.
Writer, Director Vikram Kumar had the right idea but missed a trick here and there. He could have pulled off a more tighter version of the movie instead of trying to commercialize it.
Rating: **1/2 (One time watch)
Generally horror movies are a suspense thriller at heart. 13B is no different. There are no twisted faced, blood drooping monsters/ ghosts in this movie. This movie focuses more on the paranormal activities which give in a horror angle. The movie has some serious flaws as far as the length is concerned. Its a tad bit too long. The songs just prove to be speed breakers and should have been omitted. Attention has been paid to minor detail in the flashbacks which is one of the best things I noticed.
Manohar played by R.Madhavan and his family move into a new home. Manohar and his elder brother have taken a huge amount of loan in order to buy this house. From the outset strange incidents take place in the house but Manohar and his family don't give it much of a heed.
After a few days Manohar starts to realize that somethin is wrong in the house but doesnt utter a word as his mother being superstitious would make them to change the house and the brothers wont be able to afford that.
One fine day, while Manohar is at home he stumbles upon a TV serial which apparently shows exactly what has been happening to Manohar. The serial ends with an incident which takes place in Manohar's real life. In one such incident he loses his to be born child. Manohar is convinced that the serial is related to the unfortunate incidents in his real life and starts observing the serial to prevent his family from getting into danger.
He consults his friend about these activities and decides to unearth the mystery behind the serial. He seeks help from his family doctor, played by Sachin Khedekar, who has researched a lot on paranormal activities too.
Will Manohar be successful in deciphering the paranormal activities and the mystery behind the serial? Or will the ghosts win and force Manohar to leave the house?
Note: Director Vikram Kumar may have pulled off a genius little taunt at housewives that the real ghosts of the modern world are the TV serials.
The music by Shankar Ehsan Loy has to be their weakest work. Come to think of it, I have not heard a SEL album yet which has not a single hummable tune. Moreover the songs are of fast forward variety and the picturization doesnt make the viewer engrossed in watching the song. They could have been easily edited.
R.Madhavan is an accomplished actor down south and has given some great performances in hindi movies too. He starts off on a very poor note in the movie trying to immitate SRK of the 90's. But thankfully he comes into his own, half way through the movie and delivers a fine performance. Neetu Chandra as Manohar's wife is good. I wish we could see more of her. She just gives the impression that she is a bundle of talent waiting to explode. Sachin Khedekar is good as usual. Deepak Dobriyal is very good in his cameo. Poonam Dhillon as Manohar's mother is extremely irritating. I have to rate this as her poorest performance.
Writer, Director Vikram Kumar had the right idea but missed a trick here and there. He could have pulled off a more tighter version of the movie instead of trying to commercialize it.
Rating: **1/2 (One time watch)
The StoneMan murders - Tight Murder Mystery
Story telling is an art and if you add a real life incident to it with some good research on the subject it just spices things up. The stoneman murders by director Manish Gupta is one such affair.
The Stoneman murders is a murder mystery at its core. It is based on the serial killings that took place in Mumbai in 1983 with some fiction blended with into it. The best part about this movie is that it is a no nonsense, cut to the point, fast paced suspense thriller. It has some flawed moments though.
Sanjay Sheelar is a tough, intense police inspector who is famous for his ruthlessness. After the first murder takes place, a suspect dies in custody on being interrogated. Sanjay gets suspended and the case goes to his rival Kedar played by Arbaaz Khan. But Sanjay is allowed a secretive side track investigation on the case because of his investigation skills by his boss. If he is able to crack the case, he is promised to get re-instated.
A series of murders take place in the same manner by crushing the victims head with a huge stone. How Sanjay manages to find evidences and his quest to crack the case is what the rest of the movie is all about. To give away any more about the story is pure insult to this movie.
Will Sanjay be able to catch the murderer or will this mystery remain unsolved? Will Sanjay get his old job back?
Spoiler: There is also a scope left for a sequel but since the movie has not smashed the box office the chances are bleak.
There are two songs in the movie. One runs in the background while the investigation goes on and doesn't interrupt the flow. The other one is an item number which is forcefully injected and could have been done without. Sanjay's track with his wife is totally irrelevant and should have been cut short. These are minor blemishes which could be forgiven for a first time director.
On the performances front, Kay Kay Menon lives up to his quote of "I am the Tendulkar of the film industry". He is fantastic as the ruthless, crime solving cop. Vikram Gokhale did not have much scope. Arbaaz Khan is excellent in whatever little he has to do. Rukhsar as Sanjay's wife is good.
Director, Manish Gupta has done a fantabulous job in keeping he viewers on the edge of their seats. A debut with a thriller is one of the most difficult kind to make.
Rating: *** ( An exciting watch)
The Stoneman murders is a murder mystery at its core. It is based on the serial killings that took place in Mumbai in 1983 with some fiction blended with into it. The best part about this movie is that it is a no nonsense, cut to the point, fast paced suspense thriller. It has some flawed moments though.
Sanjay Sheelar is a tough, intense police inspector who is famous for his ruthlessness. After the first murder takes place, a suspect dies in custody on being interrogated. Sanjay gets suspended and the case goes to his rival Kedar played by Arbaaz Khan. But Sanjay is allowed a secretive side track investigation on the case because of his investigation skills by his boss. If he is able to crack the case, he is promised to get re-instated.
A series of murders take place in the same manner by crushing the victims head with a huge stone. How Sanjay manages to find evidences and his quest to crack the case is what the rest of the movie is all about. To give away any more about the story is pure insult to this movie.
Will Sanjay be able to catch the murderer or will this mystery remain unsolved? Will Sanjay get his old job back?
Spoiler: There is also a scope left for a sequel but since the movie has not smashed the box office the chances are bleak.
There are two songs in the movie. One runs in the background while the investigation goes on and doesn't interrupt the flow. The other one is an item number which is forcefully injected and could have been done without. Sanjay's track with his wife is totally irrelevant and should have been cut short. These are minor blemishes which could be forgiven for a first time director.
On the performances front, Kay Kay Menon lives up to his quote of "I am the Tendulkar of the film industry". He is fantastic as the ruthless, crime solving cop. Vikram Gokhale did not have much scope. Arbaaz Khan is excellent in whatever little he has to do. Rukhsar as Sanjay's wife is good.
Director, Manish Gupta has done a fantabulous job in keeping he viewers on the edge of their seats. A debut with a thriller is one of the most difficult kind to make.
Rating: *** ( An exciting watch)
Dev D - Unconventional at its best..
Abhay Deol has worked in some of the most unconventional scripts. To his credit he has pulled it off many a time. He doesn't fail to impress us as Devdas this time either.
If you think that this is again one of those "rona dhona" types of movies then you are totally mistaken. I was infact taken aback by the way this movie progresses. After seeing No Smoking, I had vowed that I will never see another Anurag Kashyap movie. But being the true Bollywood buff that I am, I gave in and watched Dev D. I was pleasantly surprised with the movie.
The movie is essentially the story of DevDas set up in modern times. The main 3 characters are based in Delhi and are punjabis which you generally see in a Abhay Deol movie. Dev and Paro are friends from the childhood. Dev's father makes him to go abroad to pursue a good education. Despite the boundaries and distance Dev and Paro's love blossoms over the internet and the both are keen to lose their virginity to each other. Dev comes back to Delhi and finds Paro there waiting for him. Just when all seems well, Dev kisses another girl in his brother's marriage in the heat of the moment and gets angry with himself. In his anger, he believes a false story about Paro not being loyal to him either, which is doing the rounds. Dev breaks up with Paro in a heated arguement and takes to Vodka instead. If you were a strong DevDas lover and cherished the relationship among devdas and paro and their immortal love, you might find this new Dev and Paro's relationship very fragile and based on more of physical pleasure, rather than being each others soul mates. This is the only blemish of the movie.
The plot continues to introduce the angle of Chanda (urf Lenis). Lenis is a young school going girl. She has an affair with an older guy which her parents dont know about. Her boyfriend films her and distributes it via MMS (much similar to the DPS MMS scandal). Circumstances force Lenis to become an escort and hence get a new name of Chanda.
Meanwhile, Dev has now taken to drugs as well and spends his dad's money like crazy. He meets Chunni who is a pimp and gets introduced to Chanda. After 2-3 meetings both become more of friends and share their life experiences with each other. Chanda falls in love with Dev and Dev too admits that he loves Chanda but he admits that he 'll always love Paro more.
What happens in the climax? Does Chanda help Dev in his quest to get Paro back? Does Dev finally get to be with Paro or will he die with his drinking habbit? This is for you to find out. I must say that the climax was very innovative on the director's part.
The music of the movie is very different and refreshing. Although "Emosanal Atyachar" might be the biggest hit, but its tracks like Duniya, Pardesi, Payaliya and Aankh Micholi which touch the soul of the movie. Two thumbs up to the music director Amit Trivedi for trying something very different and bold.
Among performances, Abhay Deol is top notch. This will add another feather to his cap. Especially the scene where he has too much of a drink and drugs, the way he has portrayed whats going inside his head by mere expressions is simply awesome. Mahie Gill (Paro) is strictly okay. Kalki (Chanda) has given a strong performance and mainly talks through her expressions. Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Chunni could have been better.
The captain of te ship, Anurag Kashyap, has shown that "Black Friday" was no fluke. The direction is very good. I guess some of the scars made by "No Smoking" on me were erased by this movie and I will look forward to watching his next offering, "Gulaal".
Rating: *** (A good watch)
If you think that this is again one of those "rona dhona" types of movies then you are totally mistaken. I was infact taken aback by the way this movie progresses. After seeing No Smoking, I had vowed that I will never see another Anurag Kashyap movie. But being the true Bollywood buff that I am, I gave in and watched Dev D. I was pleasantly surprised with the movie.
The movie is essentially the story of DevDas set up in modern times. The main 3 characters are based in Delhi and are punjabis which you generally see in a Abhay Deol movie. Dev and Paro are friends from the childhood. Dev's father makes him to go abroad to pursue a good education. Despite the boundaries and distance Dev and Paro's love blossoms over the internet and the both are keen to lose their virginity to each other. Dev comes back to Delhi and finds Paro there waiting for him. Just when all seems well, Dev kisses another girl in his brother's marriage in the heat of the moment and gets angry with himself. In his anger, he believes a false story about Paro not being loyal to him either, which is doing the rounds. Dev breaks up with Paro in a heated arguement and takes to Vodka instead. If you were a strong DevDas lover and cherished the relationship among devdas and paro and their immortal love, you might find this new Dev and Paro's relationship very fragile and based on more of physical pleasure, rather than being each others soul mates. This is the only blemish of the movie.
The plot continues to introduce the angle of Chanda (urf Lenis). Lenis is a young school going girl. She has an affair with an older guy which her parents dont know about. Her boyfriend films her and distributes it via MMS (much similar to the DPS MMS scandal). Circumstances force Lenis to become an escort and hence get a new name of Chanda.
Meanwhile, Dev has now taken to drugs as well and spends his dad's money like crazy. He meets Chunni who is a pimp and gets introduced to Chanda. After 2-3 meetings both become more of friends and share their life experiences with each other. Chanda falls in love with Dev and Dev too admits that he loves Chanda but he admits that he 'll always love Paro more.
What happens in the climax? Does Chanda help Dev in his quest to get Paro back? Does Dev finally get to be with Paro or will he die with his drinking habbit? This is for you to find out. I must say that the climax was very innovative on the director's part.
The music of the movie is very different and refreshing. Although "Emosanal Atyachar" might be the biggest hit, but its tracks like Duniya, Pardesi, Payaliya and Aankh Micholi which touch the soul of the movie. Two thumbs up to the music director Amit Trivedi for trying something very different and bold.
Among performances, Abhay Deol is top notch. This will add another feather to his cap. Especially the scene where he has too much of a drink and drugs, the way he has portrayed whats going inside his head by mere expressions is simply awesome. Mahie Gill (Paro) is strictly okay. Kalki (Chanda) has given a strong performance and mainly talks through her expressions. Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Chunni could have been better.
The captain of te ship, Anurag Kashyap, has shown that "Black Friday" was no fluke. The direction is very good. I guess some of the scars made by "No Smoking" on me were erased by this movie and I will look forward to watching his next offering, "Gulaal".
Rating: *** (A good watch)
Introduction
Hi people..
I am a hindi movies fanatic and watch each n every movie that comes out.. Although I like most of the movies, I tend to be neutral while reviewing them..
I am going to write a review of a new hindi movie every Friday..
For the other days of the week I am going to present reviews of my all time favorite movies..
Thats it for now.. Catch you soon..
Watch for this space..
I am a hindi movies fanatic and watch each n every movie that comes out.. Although I like most of the movies, I tend to be neutral while reviewing them..
I am going to write a review of a new hindi movie every Friday..
For the other days of the week I am going to present reviews of my all time favorite movies..
Thats it for now.. Catch you soon..
Watch for this space..
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