Shameless...err "fearless" entertainment!

First things first....On one hand, Dabangg is formulaic, doesnt even get the formula right, has a slow, almost boring, first half, has too many abrupt songs, is devoid of much substance and most of it does not make much sense. On the other hand, SALMAN KHAN!

After watching Dabangg, all I can say is there is NO other star (note, I didnt say actor!) who could have carried off something as ridiculously shameless and unabashedly unpretentious as Dabangg with such elan and made it so much fun as Salman has. That I am huge fan of his is no secret, but really take a moment and try to imagine if there is any other star, or even actor, who can ensure that people, some of them super-sophisticated, not just sit through but enjoy something like Dabangg to their heart's content. Nope, I cudnt think of anyone and if you can, plz lemme kno! Now to the movie...

As mentioned before, Dabangg is hardly path-breaking cinema. In fact, after a couple of remarkable opening scenes, it peters out to become quite tepid for another hour till the interval. And frankly, some part of it is plain boring. The abrupt placement of melodious songs doesnt help either, and inconsistent focus on multiple story lines makes the film quite incoherent. But, what it lacks in cinema, Dabangg makes up in charisma! And that's because unlike his usual style, this time Salman Khan bites into the character so hard, he makes you stand up and take notice of the fact that here's a maverick character written with him in mind, and while he may not possess great acting chops, he has enough charm and screen-presence to bring someone as asinine and insane as Chulbul Pandey to life and kick ass on screen! The movie ultimately is an ode to his star-power and while that was what Wanted was too, this character is much better fleshed out and played by the "actor" like he belongs!

Of the rest, Sonakshi looks kinda cute and does a commendable job whenever she's required to. Sonu Sood is really good and I wish there was more of him in the first half! Arbaaz Khan should have refrained from being in the movie. His character is perfunctory and his acting non-existent. Dimple Kapadia chooses to ham for some reason, while all others are pretty much sidelined. I liked the cameos by a couple of havaldars and the camera-guy tho. They were hilarious! Music is really good and sounds so much better on screen. Song picturization is an ace and pretty much makes up for their abrupt placement. Of course, Munni is the best of the lot and simply sets the screen on fire! Malaika, the foot-tapping beat, the wtf lyrics and Salman's antics make it a truly paisa-vasool number! Cinematography is brilliant and technically, the film has a lot of finesse. Dialogues are very well-written for the most part and Salman gets most of the good one-liners and does a mighty fine job!

Ultimately though, its just Salman Khan who saves this movie from being a complete mess. Take him out of the equation and what you have left is nothing but incoherent hoo-haa and unbelievable sequences. While the first half is pretty much saved by stylishly choreographed actionsequences and Salman-Sonakshi's innocent love story, the second half packs quite a punch with Salman and Sonu Sood's constant bickering and, along with Munni and the climax, ensures you leave the cinema hall satisfied and high on adrenaline!

So, is Dabangg a good film or bad? Well, who cares as long as you are hooting, whistling and cheering for 2.5 hrs in the theatre, for that's what no-holds-barred, all-stops-pulled-out entertainment is all about, aint it? :)

P.S. : The marketing team has done an amazing job of cutting solid promos which ensured tremendous buzz and enabled Dabangg to break 3 Idiots first day figures all across India. And while the movie may not match up in substance or even commercially in the long run to 3I, it is a fine marketing effort nevertheless!

Woah there!

When Sajid Nadiadwala declared Anjaana Anjaani as a musical, my reaction was "A peppy movie with Ranbir and Piggy Chops - romcom yes, but a *MUSICAL* romcom, uh I donno!" Trust Vishal Shekhar to prove the whole world wrong! After delivering crappium craptitude in the form of Aladin, they showed signs of a promising comeback with IHLS, which in itself was a pretty good album, but with AA, VS are truly back to where they belong! I know I said a few months back that I rarely do music reviews, but now that people like Amit Trivedi and VS have decided its a stupid rule, I cant help it can I! :)

Both the title tracks are as different as chalk and cheese, and yet they both have something in common - they are both  really really good! The softer version sung by Vishal and Shilpa Rao has a lilting tune and soft rock feel, which makes it saccharine sweet while the club number by noobs Nikil D' Souza and Monali is a true-blue foot-tapping, "oh-yeah" kinda song! Its difficult to miss their enthusiasm and when the singers have fun, so do we, the listeners! Simply rocking!

Lucky Ali is back and boy, did we miss him or what!!! Hairat is probably gonna be the song of the year when the sun sets on 2010 but lets hold our horses till we get there... To put it mildly, Hairat is one heck of a rollicking song - partly reminded me of Fakeera from Badmaash Company! With repeat hearings, this one grows on you like nobody's business! And once again, Lucky Ali FTW! \m/

Tumse Hi Tumse by Shekhar and Caralisa is refreshing albeit slightly been-there-done-that. The lead guitar sounds leading into the song make it totally delightful and inspite of the slightly 90-ish feel, its an amazing song that stays with you despite being part of such a rich album!

Tujhe Bhula Diya is a different take on sad songs and Shruti Pathak literally made me jump with her spirited Punju rendition that kick-starts the song...she's a delight! The qawalli-ese portions are good too, altho not very novel. Ultimately the ever-dependable Mohit Chauhan and Vishal ensure the song stays above the bar the other songs have set with their brilliant vocals! A beautiful number!

I Feel Good is good, in any other album it could have been one of the best numbers of that album, but simply because it stands amongst such celebrated tunes, it seems only above average! Not the songs' fault! Vishal sounds surprisingly like Shankar Mahadevan here tho, which is different - good or bad dunno, but I Feel (pretty) Good! :D

Aas Paas Khuda has melody and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan going for it, but it probably is the weakest link in the album. Not to say that it is a bad song, in fact far from that! Its one of the better Rahat songs of recent times but a feeling of deja vu lingers, and along with the banal "Tu na jane aas paas hai khuda" line, ensures the song doesnt rise above its merits...The unplugged version is much better IMO.

The promos did not get me as excited about this movie but now the music has. Read somewhere its partly inspired by Before Sunrise, and if this ones even 10% as good as that classic, we have a really good movie to look forward to this September! Well, even otherwise, we already have a great gift here from VS!

He punched the highlights out of her hair!

When you go into a movie with so-so expectations and get to see something like Scott Pilgrim vs The World, its akin to going on an blind date with someone you met online 3 days ago and then finding out she works as a body double for Angelina Jolie...AND Scarlett Johansson....AND she reads Michael Crichton...AND her favorite director is Tarantino....AND she was the Miss Teen USA 2 yrs ago....I kno the chances of tht happening are rare, but wat the heck "Scott Pilgrim" is a rare gem! As professed by the makers, it is indeed an epic of epic epicness!

It will be stupid of me to dissect the story here and plus, u shud really go see the movie for urself! Michael Cera turns in a goofy endearing performance as Scott...I simply loved Kieran Culkin who plays the part of his gay roomie, altho not the way he loves other guys :D He gets the best lines of the film and gets 1-UPs on all! Alison Pill as the ultra-rye Kim, Johnny Simmons as Young Neil and Mark Webber as Stephen crank it up several notches as members of their supposedly ultra-lame, but IMO super-awesome, band Sex Bob-ombs (one of numerous supercool video-game references in the movie)! Anna Kendrick is super-dry as Scott's irritating sibling...Ellen Wong is super-awwww as Knives...Mary Eliz Winstead looks supercute and acts supercool as Ramona Flowers....but the real deal is the League of Evil Exes! Chris Evans, Brandon Routh and Jason Schwartzman stand out prominently, more-so bcoz their characters are better written than others...

The movie is a medley of rocking music, crack-you-up lines, superawesome fight sequences and hilarious scenes, all peppered with ultracool video game references...and a lot of insanity and randomness, which makes it epic-er...This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Kill Bill of "our" generation!

Altho I dont wanna give any of the good stuff away, I have to admit I am madly in lesbians with this movie! I wish I was Scott, not bcz he is part of an awesome band, not bcz he has one awesome chick stalking him while another awesomer chick totally leads him on, not bcz he has nothing els to do in life but be himself; only bcz life with cool background music and video game references rocks!!

Summer movies....

Movies movies and more movies! This summer has been fab and I have a horde of movies tht I shud hv reviewed...Due to lack of time and energy, I have decided to just do a quick round-up :)

Raajneeti

Loved it! Probably best Hindi movie of this year yet! (Wait till Dabangg releases :D) Loved the Mahabharat and Godfather references! Nana Patekar and Ranbir Kapoor steal the show big time.

Man Som Hatar Kvinor

Visceral and brutally honest movie! Loved how human and lifelike the characters of Salander and Blomkvist are and how effectively they are portrayed  by the actors! Reading the sequel right now and enjoying it. Looking forward to more Swedish movies!

Toy Story 3

To borrow a line from one of my dear friends "Awwwwwww" :)

Raavan

WTF! Read this!

Knight and Day

Huh! Did I just get transported to the 90s when such movies were the order of the day and made money by the gallons? Its not too bad, but pretty banal stuff to be frank!

Despicable Me

Probably the BEST 3-D animation movie ever! So so so entertaining!! Double thumbs up!

Inception

Interesting concept and commendable execution. Wont gush about it as much as everyone else did, because I still think The Prestige and The Dark Knight are better works than this one...For some reason, I think Inception misses the emotional connect and gets too involved in its awesome concept. Nevertheless, its superbly directed and well enacted. Brilliant movie but IMDB All time # 3 above The Dark Knight? Nah!

Yet to watch Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, Aisha coming up this Friday, Dabangg looking HOT, Anjaana Anjaani another caper, Aakrosh looking interesting; lots to look forward to!

When life gives you lemons...

...they say, u make lemonade...But you know what? Sour lemons can only lead to sour lemonade, no matter how much sugar you put in...Adding other flavors doesn't help either...So what do you do then? Live with the fact that you got sour lemons? Make a yucky lemon pie? Say "lemon who"? Develop a liking for other, probably tastier, fruits?

Its one of the toughest conundrums in life. This might sound cliched, but how you react to the downsides in life defines how far you can go. It could be a personal issue, a professional setback, or even a psychological thing; how you face it and how quickly you can bounce back will more or less decide how quickly you can rise from the ashes. Alrit, enough of the Paulo Coelho-esque crap (If you are wondering whether I am a Coelho fan, lemme put it this way - I prefer a hamming Suneil Shetty to his books, that should put your doubts to rest...For those confused by the phrase "hamming Suneil Shetty", check this) ....Moving on to why I have been rambling about life, lemons and all kinds of random stuff...

People who have been dumped on e-mail, who have been stood up on their 4th date, who have been left at the altar, who have had to say goodbye to someone they have been with for more than half their lives, and who have seen the Mallika Sherawat, Rahul Bose starrer Pyaar Ke Side Effects, you all know what I'm talking about when I say "Break-up Ke Side Effects"...While the process by itself is painful, the aftermath may not be as bad as you may have imagined....

1. You suddenly have a lot of time on hand

Because something you thought about for 23 out of 24 hrs in the day till now is something you want to forget asap. So, suddenly you have time for all the things you had been postponing all these days for "lack of time" or some such weird reason. You can now register for that dance class you have been wanting to do for quite some time, play some sports, go talk to that pretty girl you have been wanting to talk to for a while but kept avoiding lest something serious come out of it....its time to start living for yourself for a change...

2. You are free to make your own decisions

Because that someone for whom you changed 11 out of 10 decisions no longer matters as much (not because you dont care any more, but because you have to make an effort to not care any more), you suddenly find yourself basing your decisions on what YOU want to do, rather than stuff like what will he/she feel, does he/she like it, will he/she have fun, does he/she dig it, yada yada...Its time to enjoy being in control of your life!

3. You can make friends with anyone!

Because you no longer have to worry about potentially inappropriate advances, inadvertent complications and jealous backlashes, you are free to meet new people, especially those belonging to the opposite sex, and try and strike a connect! Its time to forge new friendships, something you could do only to an extent till now because you had to devote so much time and energy to that special someone. Its time to get out on the dance floor of life and jive with new buddies!

4. You can reconnect with old friends like never before!

Because of 1, you have lots of spare air-time that can be put to good use by trying to rebuild relationships/friendships you could (unintentionally) give only so much time to, because that special someone demanded more of your attention! Its time to get back to pre-rel times and rock the floor, friendship-style!

5. You save A LOT!

Because you dont need to spend on gifts and on looking/being the way someone else wants you to look/be like, you can stop spending on relatively useless stuff and keep the money for stuff that really matters- good food and latest gadgets! This, friends, is a real saver and probably the biggest material side-effect, or should I say advantage!

6. You can go after your dreams!

Because the only person majorly affected in long-term by your decisions now is you, you can reopen that wish-list and finally try to make a serious effort towards making at least a couple of things written there true! Nobody/nothing stops you from going for what your heart wants, and has always wanted!

7. You can be genuinely happy!

Not that you weren't happy before! But you no longer need to suffer from an external focus of identity! Happiness can finally come from within, based only on how happy YOU are!

Pretty positive eh? Life post-breakup aint so bad! :) Its best to enjoy this phase before the next one beckons and history begins to repeat itself! :)

Aisha!!!

Amit Trivedi is back with a bang! And not just your ordinary bang, not the kind they used to depict in the Batman TV series by lame words-in-clouds like POW and WHAM! This is serious kick-ass stuff!

It begins with Suno Aisha sung oh-so-delectably by Ash King, of Dil-Gira-Dafatan-fame, with able assistance by Trivedi himself and while it reminds a lot of another recent classic, Aditi from Jaane Tu, that's only bcz its reminiscent of the former in spirit. The use of saxophones and trumpets is a master stroke and Ash King does a fab job at making the song simply irresistible!

Gall Mitthi Mitthi is a winner all the way with Tochi at helm crooning a very non-mundane Punju tune, which is a refreshing change...especially bcz the lyrics are true-blue Punjabi, as compared to the random mundiya, chunari, kudiyon crap usually served till date in Hindi movies...The beat grows on u after a mere 2 listens and while i cudnt get what the hype abt the song is all about in the first listen, by the end of listen 2, i was hooked, in fact bowled over!

Sham is beautifully sung by Nikil D'Souza and is the soothing element in the album...well written, awesomely arranged and amazingly pleasant, Sham is a treat for the ears...'nuf said!

Lehrein is an introspective song, again awesomely arranged and beautifully sung by Anushka Mani, with some great lyrics! Another song u will be willing to listen on loop, especially if ur in a melancholy mood!

Behke Behke is probably the first Spanish style Hindi song ever...its energetic, vivacious and foot-tapping, belly-shaking to say the least. The awesome Anushka Manchanda sings this one and boy, does she do it well!

Anushka comes back for By The Way, which is a very VIVA-like song and yet, much better than what VIVA cud ever manage, of course bcz its Amit Trivedi at the helm of affairs here! Bubbly, effervescent and full of life, this ones a winner too!

Remixes of Gall Mitthi Mitthi and Lehrein wrap up the album, and both up the ante considerably! All in all, Aisha is hands-down, by far, the album of the year! Its a superb follow-up by Amit Trivedi to his much deserving and brilliant Dev D! He manages so much with some lesser-known singers, that its truly remarkable how carefully he has chosen the right voice for the right track! I hate to compare but, I havent felt like this abt an album since Rock On...Delhi 6 came close and while Dev D had 7-8 masterpieces, it also had another 4-5 tracks that I rarely liked to listen to (not bcz they wr bad, only bcz m not into that kinda music)....so considering the whole album, Aisha is a rarity, at least for me, where EVERY track stands on its own and tall! Dont take off ur headphones for the next month! :)

P.S. : I remember finding Emma pretty boring when I read it abt 12 yrs back...But Aisha sure looks a peppy adaptation! And not to forget, it has that most important factor every Hindi movie shud have...no no not the script....Abhay Deol! \m/

Dus Ass Wale...

Raavan, without any doubt, is the WORST MOVIE I have seen in the last 10 years, probably even the worst I have ever seen ...I dont remember being as utterly perplexed and mindfucked while and after watching a movie since I saw Refugee and LOC, but even those had some redeeming moments...and some of the recent crap like Kidnap and Karzzzzz was of the so-bad-its-good variety....

Raavan is the lowest of low points in Mani Ratnam's career and Abhishek Bachchan's non-career...For some reason, Ash's (non-existent) cleavage hogs more limelight than any shred or iota of acting skill she allegedly has...I have seen some seriously BAD movies, and i mean real bad bad movies like Jai-Veeru and Team-The Force, and even they seem like Picasso in front of this Dus Ass Wala Raavan...Mindfuck! डोक्याला शॉट! डायरेक्टरच्या आईचा घो !

Irony of life....

You always want to be the Akash of your life, but no matter how much good you mean, sometimes you just turn out to be Rohit...

And the irony is .... one person's Akash can be another person's Rohit....

Maybe its a good idea to just be Sameer and not bother about the Shalinis of the world...You could try to be Sid, but takes a lot of maturity and unfortunately, I'm not there yet....

Yo James...

Sometime in the mid-90s, somewhere in California....

"Ron, I'm gonna build a big ship...huge one...cut it into half ...tie people to the posts and railings on tht ship...then get a bunch of cranes and pull it vertical so that it looks like one half of a sinking ship....the tied people all sway, hanging on the threads they are tied to...its all natural...looks awesome...you capture it all using multiple cameras, edit it, post process it and lo, you have an awesome scene of a sinking ship...waddaya think?"

"You know James, its a ridiculous idea...its not gonna work...there's so much technology available...you should use it!"

"Technology schmecknology! I'mma make it work! You'll see..."

"Take my word James, you'll come back to technology later when it doesnt work out...and you'll have wasted money and time! Listen to me now, I know this stuff..."

"Oh you scientists know squat about art! You'll see"

6 months later....

"Yo James, hows it goin man?"

"You know what Ron, you were right...my goddamn idea was a boo-boo....it looked hideous..."

"I toldja didnt I!"

"Yeah! I put my foot in my own mouth...gimme your goddamn technology...lets see how it goes!"

A coupla years later in 1998....

Titanic smashes box-office records worldwide...

The people


Ron - Ron Fedkiw, my Special Effects professor (More info here)
James - James Cameron, Director

True story.

The real superhero...

...is Robert Downey Jr! How else can you explain Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man 2 is succession!! He has now officially displaced Leonardo DiCaprio as my favorite Hollywood actor.

Getting back to the movie, Iron Man 2 is no The Dark Knight, but it is not Transformers 2 either, nor is it Spiderman 3! I guess you see where I am going :D While it explores less of psyche and more of the superficial, Iron Man 2 delivers what all superhero movies are intended to deliver in the first place - loads of entertainment and action - and it does that without disrespecting the IQ levels of the audience, which is more than you can ask from this genre! While it does not delve into depths of almost any of the characters' psyches, save Tony Stark to some extent, the film is so edgily written and performed that you are willing to overlook that fact. While Mickey Rourke as Whiplash and Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury get sort of a raw deal, they nevertheless shine to the extent they can. Gwyneth Paltrow is adorable as Pepper Potts and Scarlett Johannson burns the screen with her chutzpah. How I wish there was more of her in the movie. I need not repeat the fact that she is H-O-T, she is superhot in this one! Sam Rockwell is brilliant as Hammer. But the real superhero as I mentioned is Robert Downey Jr.! He builds on top of the Tony Stark character he conceived in the first part and while the focus is more on his situation this time than on his psychology, the filmmakers are lucky to have him since he comes up with such an eccentric, delicious and towering performance that overshadows everything else including the half-baked characterizations, the unoriginal and underdeveloped rationale to Whiplash's action, the kick-ass action set-pieces (though we all have seen better!) and even Scarlett Johannson's assets! Now if that isnt a superpower, what is!

Its an entertainment fest, laced with lots of sarcasm and punch! And while it misses the chance of being another Iron Man or The Dark Knight, Iron Man 2 leaves dumbass flicks like Revenge of the Fallen and Clash of the Titans light years behind, both in terms of pure adrenaline and sheer joy!

P.S. : I wouldnt mind seeing an entire movie on the Black Widow, btw! :D