2007 : The Year that Was

2007 was full of surprises some pleasant ( like Taaren Zameen Par, Manorama & Johnny ) and some not so pleasant ( like JBJ, LCMD & Aaja Nachle) and though it was not as good as 2006 , still some new trends were set . The high point for year was no doubt , the never before media frenzy and publicity of the Diwali releases and low point was the acting of Mega - stars in Script-less movies like CASH & Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom .

Talking of stars , some were created (Deepika & Ranbir) , some were re-born ( SRK with 6-pack) and some got recognised ( Akki with 3 blockbusters ) . The year belonged to SRK with the Years two biggest hits Chak-De India and OSO . SRK's luck shined at anything he touched whether it is Hey Babby or the 20-20 Finals .Though SRK did not do much to publicise his better " Product ", Chak-De , it still stood up on its own . The Award Trophies are waiting for SRK's fingerprints .

Enough of SRK , the other Big star of the Year was undoubtedly Akshay Kumar with three Back-2-Back hits . He has proved that apart from SRK & Hrithik , he too sells big-time . Among female stars the year belonged to Katrina Kaif with three good films at box-office ( Namaste London , Partner & Apne ) . Rani's throne has fallen with LCMD and she would be seriously thinking of marrying and settling . And talking of partners both Salman & Ash found one . Ash got AB baby and Salman got Govinda ? The marriage of the year goes to Ash-Abhi with "Out-standing" performance by Media . Father in Law AB senior was more in news for wrong reasons ( Land Acquisition and Rifts with stars like SRK , Aamir and Hrithik & not to forget romancing young girls) . Hrithik took a break with no movie releasing this year and did only Ad-campaigns .

After stars come Directors & Producers . Mani Sir's GURU did better than his last movie and AB got something to cheer about . Two Big Directors ( both being one of my favourites) RGV and SLB got self absorbed and carried out " Mann-Maani " and paid the price . RGV got burnt in his own Aag and SLB didn't found his Saawariya . Over-confidence can kill anybody . Aditya made wrong decisions through-out the year and worked more on budget rather than scripts . SONY got peanuts for their first Indian Film and ADLABS & EROS bought films like vegetables. Vidhu Vinod Chopra made Eklavya with stunning visuals but again weak story killed it . He got happy with american reviews and comments . Brother-Sister , Farah - Saajid got richer and made dozens of stars dance in one song each . And before the year ended one more Director surprised in the form of Aamir Khan . He is also now a PDA ( Producer,Director & Actor) . Mahesh Bhatt rightly said in a recent interview that he pushed this decision too long , he should have gotten into it quite early . I wonder , if this movie would win awards who will take it , Aamir being the PDA , probably the kid.

For me the best part of year was the variety of cinema I got to see whether is it a sports movie in Chak - De or a gripping suspense-thriller in Manorama & Johnny Gaddar . Not to forget the movie based on kids - Taare Zameen Par which is also one of the best in the year . Comedies like Partner & Bheja Fry both released in a year and did well . OSO with all the 70's drama and glitter and Khoya Khoya Chaand with all the Nostalgia .There was something for youth of today also , in form of Mp3 , Dil Dosti etc. & Mumbai Salsa . Nice to see movies like Jab We Met and Shootout doing well than Saawariya & Salaam-e-ishq. Big disappointments in form of Cash & Traffic Signal . Films like Aapka Suroor did better than excellent cinema like Black Friday & Manorama . I feel for the producers . Anyways the big releases of this year were not as good as last year but the small ones made for it .

Music wise the year was quite good with GURU in the beginning and Khoya Khoya Chaand in the end . Every album had at least one song worth listening and some albums had it all , like Metro & OSO . Tara rum pum 's songs did better than the movie . Saawariya's 11 songs made the movie fall even low and Partner's numbers didn't make sense yet minted money .

Aamir has got into Direction and Blogging ( like me ) and looks like he is going to do it all with utmost perfection . Hrithik has new agent in the LA and is ready to breach the international screens . Ash is doing Pink Panther and Mallika is also ready to go to the express way . Shilpa found Big-Brother and no husband yet . Oscar buzz surrounds Irfan & Tabu and Indian films and stars knocking the world's door .

The final nail in the coffin is my list of the best & worst of year which has many categories just like any Indian award "show" . Here it goes :

Best Films (Popular) :

1. Om Shanti Om .
2. Chak De India.
3. Partner.
4. Guru.
5. Heyy Baby & Bhul Bhulaiyaa.

Best Films (Critical Acclaim & overall):

1. Chak De India.
2. Taare Zameen Par.
3. Guru.
4. Johnny Gaddar.
5. Manorama Six Feet Under .

Best Trailers (new category):

1. Saawariya - Teaser Trailer.
2. Bhul Bhulaiyaa - Teaser Trailer.
3. Gandhi My Father - Trailer .
4. Jodha Akbar.
5. Khoya Khoya Chaand & JBJ-teaser .

*Guru and Salaam-e-Ishq trailer not included because they released in 2006.

Best Songs (Popular):

1. Chakde - Chak De India.
2. Dard-e-disco-OSO.
3. Its Rocking - Kya Love Story Hai .
4. Soni De Nakhre - Partner.
5. Hare Ram - Bhul Bhulaiyaa.
6. Move Your Body - Johnny Gaddar.

Best Songs ( Lyrically):

1. Tere Bina - Guru.
2. Baatein Kuch Ankhahi Si - Life in a... Metro.
3. Maula Mere - Anwar.
4. Main Jahan Bhi Rahoo - Namaste London.
5. Jab Se tere Naina - Saawariya.
6. O re Pakhi - Khoya Khoya Chaand.

Rotten Eggs Of the Year :

1. Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom.
2. Cash.
3. RGV ki Aag.
4. Fool n Final.
5. Aapka Suroor - The Movieeee .

Some other films like Saawariya , Nishabd and Shaka laka Boom Boom gave good competition to these films .

That would be it for now , some more will come soon , keep checking .

Here's wishing all my readers a Merry Christmas and Happy and Prosperous New Year . I hope the New-Year resolution for big banner producers would be to work on good scripts along with the commercial ones .

Taare Zameen Par --- Movie Review

There are some films that while watching you forget that you are watching a film and start feeling that what you are watching is something that was always at the back of your mind and it is just been taken out from there . Taare Zameen Par is one such film . Aamir Khan is known to be among the brightest man in the industry but what came out was an another Aamir khan that dreams and feels those dreams very passionately . Direction has brought out a piece of Aamir who has always been media shy . He kept on saying in the interviews that he felt for the story and hence decided to direct it , and after watching TZP I feel that he was damn serious about it .

Talking of the film , its an experience and you need to watch it for yourself to feel it . The movie is not at all for kids though it revolves around kids . It is more for the parents who groom kids and also for a little mature kids who can understand and feel what is shown . The best thing about TZP is that it is shown through the eyes of a kid . It very clearly puts across the fact that how creative the children are when they are young . They see things and think about it with a free mind , without any constrains . But today , parents are putting constrains to that free mind and soul . And it is this thought that whole movie brings out .

The film starts in a very unique and creative way . The title credits are itself a creative master-piece . All credit to Pankaj Khandpur of Tata - ELXSI & his team who worked on all the graphics and visual effects of the film . The special effects added to the creativity of film .

The film revolves around a child of third standard - Ishan Awasthy , who is very weak in studies and despite of all the punishments he doesn't study .He is very creative and makes beautiful paintings of whatever he sees and feels . He has an elder brother , Yohaan Awasthy who is very bright in studies and always stands first in class . Yohaan is a bright student but he is not very proudy about it and this very trait in his character is what moved me . He supports his brother throughout the movie whenever he is able to do so and doesn't make fun . He acts very maturely according to his age . After being fed up of complaints and failures , the angry father - Vipin Sharma , sends Ishaan to a boarding school so that he learns discipline and starts studying . Ishaan unwilingly gets admitted to the school and gets very sad . There he is constanly beaten by the strict teachers . He makes a very good friend over there who is himself suffering of polio yet he is brightest in his class. Ishaan shows no progress and the same story starts repeating , scolding and beating but no one understands him . Being lonely and sad he stops painting also .

Then comes a new art teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir) who has a very different style of teaching . He sets children free and makes them think freely just like Robin William's character in Dead Poet's Society , only difference he deals with small children . His character has no similarity to Robin's except the distinct style of teaching and free thinking philosophy . He comes across Ishaan and gets concerned for him . He does a little bit of research onhim and realizes that he suffers from a disorder called Dislexia (unability of understanding alphabets and characters ) . He then undertakes Ishaan and grooms him and makes him get over his problems . He also teaches his parents a lesson or two and makes them think like him . Then slowly - slowly everything changes and Ishaan's love for painting gets recognised by evryone and applauded . The movie ends with the end of term and Ishaan showing remarkable iprovments in his Progress Report . His painting also gets published on cover page of school Year-book .

The acting by all actors is just top notch with Darsheel Safary (Ishaan) being the best . He has acted just like a child should and brought out the emotions perfectly . He deserves an award . Aamir is as usual perfect and all the other cast is also brilliant . Tisca (Ishaan's Mom) is beautiful and graceful .

The music is very good and melodious with the song "Maa" that can move any damn soul that exists on this face of earth . The music is very simple and sweet and melodious matching the movie's feel . Shankar Ehsaan Loy and Lyricist Prasoon Joshi do a great job .

There are many-many small moments in the entire film that will not only make you emotional but teach you a thing or two . It is these moments that make it so special and watchable . I am so glad that year has ended with such a excellent piece of cinema . I am more happy for Aamir who has delivered more than what was expected from him .

Movie Rating : Four Stars , for fantastic acting by Darsheel & excellent direction . If you want to end your year on a right note , go and watch it . Take your kid along .

Aamir if you read this then I would like to tell you that when I was watching this movie , there was a young couple sitting next to me who had a very small baby . I heard the wife say -" We will buy a DVD and keep watching the movie so that it reminds us that how we should be to our children ." Do you need anything more ?

One more thing Aamir , the scene where you make the small boy who works in a restaurant eat and drink from your cup , hit me the most . I don't know how many but there will be at least one preson who would copy that in real life and imagine how happy the kid would get . Great start to an exciting new career . This one surely stands a chance at the Oscar .

SUNDAY --- Music Review

The Music of the upcoming film Sunday is out now and this album is also unique as the name of film is . The Album has music from not one , not two but Six Different Music Directors (probably one for each day of week except Sunday). The music is new in its feeling and so is the album . The film is directed by the director of 2006 hit "Golmaal - Fun Unlimited" , Rohit Shetty . The album of Golmaal was a huge hit and it also had completely groovy and new feel about it . Same would be expected out of this album .

The First Track of album is "Missing Sunday" and is sung by three singers Mahua Kamath, Suraj & Earl Edgar . The Music is by Sandeep Chowta (Company fame) .The title track of Golmaal was also sung by new singer Anushka Manchanda and her voice & style became a huge hit . This song is also pretty same in the feeling , a bit more cool and groovy . All the singers do a pretty good job yet it won't be as big hit as the Golmaal title track . Kajol listened to Golmaal's music and said that it was very cool and new . I hope she says the same for this one .

The Second track is " Pyar to Hona hi Hai " is by Pakistani Band " Suroor " and is sung by the lead singers of the band Kamran Bari & Mohammed Ali . It is the romantic pick of the album and is the only song of the album rich in Lyrics . The song has a Rock music feeling blended in Romance . This one is similar to the songs by another Pakistani Band - Jal . With good use of guitar and powerful vocals , this one would surely work in the masses .

Then comes " Loot Liya " sung and composed by Daler Mahendi along with Sunidhi Chauhan . This one is a typical Daler Mahendi track with his distinct singing style and punjabi music with dhol . Sunidhi Chauhan has given good company to him and has sung it like a Punjabi singer . This one would probably work in small town and also in Punjab where his die hard fans are . This song might look good in the film accompanied by some funny acting by actors .

After this comes " Kashmakash " which is sung snd coposed by Shibani Kashyap . This one is also a typical Shibani song with his distinct singing and music . She is a talented girl and I don't remember any other Female music director cum singer . This song has a Suspense element and feel in it and would work in mysterious situations .The music is good and lyrics by Virag Mishra are also according to the feeling of song .
The next song on album is "Manazar" , composed by Raghav Sachar , is much faster track than the earlier ones and is well sung by the trio who sung the title track Missing Sunday . There is a bit of rap in between by Earl which is cool . The song is short of lyrics yet it will be liked .

After Manzar is the Theme of SUNDAY which had been played in teaser trailers in the background . The music is by Amar Mohile with very new sounds and works for the theme of the movie . The Malaysian or Chinese renditions in the starting and throughout the song are a plus point and sound great . The english lyrics in between are sung by Joy and Clint add a good feeling to the music

After these there are three remixes comprising of a " Kashmakash-Remix" by DJ Suketu and the other two by Tanay and Gaurav comprising of remix versions of "Pyaar to hona hi hai" & "Missing Sunday" . The remix are quite fast and rocking and would work in Discos . The best among the three being of "Missing Sunday" .

Overall the Album is good but nothing very exciting . The songs are not boring neither are they catchy . The best in the entire album is "Missing Sunday" , "Pyaar to hona hi hai" and "Sunday-Theme" . The album would look good in the movie but probaly won't sell that much . In totality , it is a new experiment and can be heard once .

Music Rating : Two And Half Stars .

Welcome --- Movie Review

One of the last big releases of the year , Welcome is a tough competitor for TZP and probably would out-do TZP in terms of Box-office numbers . The movie is Directed by No Entry fame Anees Bazmee and produced by Firoz Nadiadwala . The movie is quite different from Anees's first offering No Entry in terms of comedy style and also actors . The main drawback of the movie for me was the fact that it was not at all situational based comedy and situations were created hypothetically , just like in any David Dhawan's film . If you are a big fan of David's cinema then you would for sure enjoy this movie a lot .

The movie is not meant for intellectual type of people and it may disappoint them . The film targets the common audience and hits a bulls eye . The Movie has many comic scenes that would tickle your funny bone for sure . But I am dissapointed because I expected more from Anees after his last film. But it is not his fault . All the movies made under Nadiadwaala's production are same because they interfere in the film for sure and hence Anees won't be having freedom . Once Saajid Khan rightly said that they are the Bruckheimer's of India and follow the same formula .

Talking of the film , it moves around Akshay & Katrina who want to get married but Akshay's uncle Paresh Raawal wants to get Akshay Married to some respectful Family people . But Akshay and Katrina fall in love and then starts the game of turning Nana & Anil into good honest people from goons . Though Akshay is suppose to play the lead role but in my opinion its Nana who stole the show and walks away as a lead of the film . Akshay and Katrina just perform the romance part of the movie with very few comic scenes for them . Nana is just outstanding as he is and has the best dialogues in the movie . Anil has done just regulation stuff and got laughs only for his abusing on screen . Mallika got to do more "Acting" than Katrina though her role was short . There is a whole Bhaagambhag in the end as there is in any comedy movie .

Just go out to watch this movie without thinking of story and other things . No Entry had a new story and great situations . This one doesn't , but still I would refer the movie for Nana fans and also David Dhawan's fans . It wont disappoint you . If you liked Partner then you would love this one . Akshay's and Paresh's fans may get disappointed for their small role in the movie and not much comedy from them .

The Music is average and looks good only in movie . Malaika does an item number in the movie which is so-so and only one thing was noticable in that song - Malaika's ugly Pregnancy Strech Marks . The make-up man failed over there . Cinematography is good and involves UAE like any other Nadiadwaala movie does . Overall it can be watched once if you want to laugh a bit and enjoy mindlessly . Considering Partner ,the Movie do very well at the Box-office and Akshay would have a perfect new year . This time probably he edited his own part by mistake .

Movie Rating : Two and a half Stars for fabulous acting by Nana Patekar.

Strangers --- Movie Review

This is probably the third Suspense thriller of the Year after Manorama & Johnny Gaddar , but is very Mediocre and Slow as compared to the other two . What came across to me as a surprise was that actors like Kay Kay and Sonali Kulkarni starred in such an ordinary movie . The entire experience of the movie was very so so and just excited me just once before interval .

The first half of the movie is very slow and goes about in a very unusual manner . The main characteristic of any suspense movie is that it should keep the viewer thinking about the plot and an unexpected outcome . But this one has neither of it . The suspense is not at all mind boggling and the end is also very expected one .

Talking about the story the movie starts off with two strangers meeting each other in a train to London where they talk to each other during the journey and tell each other the story of there lives and how both of them are fed up of their wives . Then Kay Kay decides that only way to get out of this is to kill each others wives . After this the first half ends with a scene showing Jimmy Shergill getting arrested and Kay Kay being bewildered , leaving the suspense right there .

Then in the second Half which I expected to better turned out to be even slow and nothing thrilling about it . While watching it I just expected some excitement but my wish wasn't fulfilled . The only thing best about this movie is that it does not have any boring song sequences otherwise I would have slept and is just 2 hrs long .

The acting performances are remarkable with Jimmy looking good . Kay Kay is one of my favourite actors and he was also one of the reasons that I went to watch this movie but the story and direction was just so mediocre . The two movies which I mentioned earlier set new benchmarks for suspense thrillers whereas this one is nowhere in comparison . The movie reminded me of Roman Polanski's "Bitter Moon"
a bit which is at least better than this one .

Overall the movie is just a waste of time . Better watch the other Kids Movies that have released . At least they would be a little entertaining . Go watch Air Buddies or Surf's Up instead of this if you are feeling bored . Don't waste 100 bucks on this one .

Movie Rating : One Star ; Not Recommended .

Khoya Khoya Chaand --- Movie Review

Movies with the central character as a female lead are seldom made in our Film Industry . Sudhir Mishra is one such director who does it very efficiently . His past two films Chameli (*ing Kareena) and Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (*ing Chitrangada Singh) were also based female characters in lead . This one is also the same and the entire movie revolves around Soha who plays Nikhat in the movie .

Before reviewing I'll say that this movie is not for everybody and will be liked by only a selected group of people . The movie starts off with the main lead of the movie Nikhat whose mother is running around different directors and producers to get a role for her daughter . Nikhat plays small roles in different movies until she is spotted by Prem Kumar , the superstar . Prem is a complex and manipulated character which is played by Rajat Kapoor . Prem is more flamboyant in nature and has had physical relations with many co-stars . He works with a co-star Ratanbala who is also a superstar . Prem spots nikhat and makes her a star and Nikhat does everything that Prem says and even gets physical with him . Then comes Zafar (played by Shiney) who is son of a very characterless man with four wives . Zafar is introduced to Prem Kumar by Shaymol (played by Vinay Pathak) who is a good friend of Zafar . Zafar is a Writer and he impresses Prem Kumar by his writing and then Prem gets him on his film . Zafar meets Nikhat through Prem Kumar and he becomes a good friend of Nikhat . She slowly becomes a superstar and Prem goes on to marry an another girl who is selected by his parents . Due to this Nikhat gets sad and she slowly slowly gets attracted towards Zafar . When Prem comes to know about Zafar & Nikhat's affair , he tries to remove both Zafar and Nikhat from his next film but instead of them the Director removes Prem Kumar and signs a new actor . Then Nikhat becomes the biggest superstar and Zafar decides to Direct a film which revolves around his relationship with his father . He writes this story for Nikhat but she refuses to act in his film because she already gives a commitment to other films . Then , due to this differences start to creep in their relationship .

Zafar completes the film with Ratanbala and it bombs and he gets destroyed . He leaves the industry & Nikhat and goes to London . Nikhat being alone developes a drinking habit and also starts to fall from her star status . She lives with Shaymol and slowly becomes quite ill . Then after many years Zafar comes back from London and when he sees Nikhat he realizes his mistake . He writes another script which is based on their own lives and goes on to make it . Nikhat in spite of being ill works hard in his film and later the film goes on to be a success . Both Nikhat and Zafar marry each other but she dies soon and their movie " Khoya Khoya Chaand " becomes a classic film of all time.

Now talking about the acting , Soha Ali Khan is brilliant in her role as Nikhat . She perfectly portrays the Innocence perfectly in the starting of her career as an actress and later gets mature . She really fits in perfectly for Nikhat's role and performs her best . Her character is inspired by Meena Kumari and she matches the elegance of the great actress . Shiney is an amazing actor . He also plays Zafar really well and delivers his goods very well . Zafar is also inspired by Guru Dutt to some extent and he also plays it relly well . The other actors including Rajat Kapoor also act brilliantly and fit their roles.

The cinematography by Sachin Kumar Krishnan is also top notch . It does moves you into the 50's era and gives you a detailed look of the industry at that time .The story is slow in its pace but movies like this are always a bit slow . Sudhir knows his job very well and he delivers his best . He really shows the complexity of relationships very well .
The music is also according to the movie and really keeps the film going .

Overall the movie is about the complex nature of relationships that exist between different people working in same industry . The movie revolves around Passionate and Ambitious characters who live simultaneous lives at a time to get successful . The movie won't be able to attract good Box Office numbers because of its selected audience and it is not for people who expect entertainment and happiness from each film that is made . This movie has its moments and will stand high on critics list .

Movie Rating : The movie gets Three out of Five for fantastic acting and Direction .

SUNDAY -- Trailer Review

Rohit Shetty , the Director of GOLMAAL - Fun Unlimited , is back with his latest offering for the viewers in the form of SUNDAY . The first trailer is out now and I am quiet impressed . It definitely leaves an impression on your mind .

The trailer starts off with a Dog Barking and then there is an Introduction of the starcast which starts with Ajay Devgan who plays a Corrupt Cop , then Arshad Waarsi who plays a Crook Cab Driver , then Irrfan Khan who plays an Actor (funny one) and at last there is a mystery Girl , guess who , none other than Aayesha Takia .

After a quick intro the trailer shows all the different scenes of the movie which exhibit the Following Six Elements in the same order :
1. Thrills
2. Fun
3. Dance
4. Suspence
5. Romance
6. & last but not least Action .

During the entire trailer (122.3 sec to be precise) the title song of Sunday keeps playing in the background and the scenes keep changing rapidly with very few dialogues . Well there is another surprise before the trailer ends , a sneak peek of one more actor of the film Esha Deol . She is a secret . Then at last Ajay says " इसका मतलब तुम्हारी life से एक दीन missing है । " & that is of-course SUNDAY .

The entire trailer is very fast paced and the Director has shown many things in just 2 minutes . This one promises to be a Good One , the stunts and action sequences are also quite amazing . Ajay is best in the Action sequences and the movie also has a mystery and Comedy . This would be quite enough to attract the audineces to the Cinema halls .

The producers are Kumar Mangat ( which means Ajay also is a Ghost producer ) and EROS International . Considering the success of Golmaal this one also looks promising but expectations would be running high after Golmaal . I hope this one also turns out to be as entertaining as the first one . The movie is set to release in Jan 2008 and would be New Year's gift from Ajay and company .

Check out the trailer :

Film Noire : Is it the Next Trend ?

The first teaser promo of Yashraj's Latest flick - Tashan is out now and from the rushes it looks like that the film would be a pure hardcore action flick and would have completely different styling for all the lead stars ( Akshay,Saif,Kareena & Anil) . The teaser has nothing but just an introduction of the star-cast and background score of a typical action flick . The trailer ends with a dialogue by Anil who appears to be the bad guy which goes something like this in crude english : " Firsht Impression ish the lasht impression ".

The Tag-line of the film is " The Ishtyle... The Goodluck... The Pharmoola " which kinda makes me think that this one would be also an attempt to a new genre for Bollywood - Film Noir . The graphics for the title are also like any typical Neo-Noir film .The recent flick which did this was Sriram Raghwan's "Johnny Gaddar" . The movie did quite well and got great reviews .

For Akshay it is back to basics time since this one is not comedy and is his first love Action . For Kareena it is a new arena since she has never done an action flick before . I am sure she would leave her different mark among all the other greats . For Anil this one would be a kinda nostalgia since he himself comes from dharavi where bad guys are regulation and abusing on screen wouldn't be a problem for him . Kareena would have also learnt one or two more (after Jab We Met )from them . Saif would be the Playboy for sure apart from Akshay . Well enough guessing work , I hope the new guy Vijay Krishna Acharya does his job well of Direction and matches Sriram's Vision.

Vijay has earlier written screenplay for both the Dhooms and also written Dialogues for Mani Ratnam's GURU . The Yashraj Banner would certainly not compromise on the Action sequences but of late there Scripts have been quite weak apart from Chak De which was brilliant . Expectations would be running high from Aditya for Vijay .

Bollywood is searching for new scripts and genre and Film Noir genre promises to hold all the attractive ingredients . It has all the Dialogue-Baaji and the Beatiful Girls which are enough to attract the audience not to forget the Action and cheap one liners . The production houses today want to rake in the moolah and they can make any kind of cinema to do it . Looks like the Neo-Noir would be the next insect that would bite the bollywood producers .

Beowulf --- Movie Review

Two weeks after the Two Diwali Mega-Releases , I decided to take a break from Bollywood and preffered Beowulf over two other releases " Dhan Dhanadan Goal " and " Elizabeth - The Golden Age " just because it is a Robert Zemeckis flick and I am a huge fan of back to the future series and also Tom Hanks starrer "Forrest Gump" . Beowulf attempts to what well may be the future of Cinema , the Motion Capture Technique .

The movie is a nice blend of Animation and Realism which portrays very well , a World of Fantasy . The best part about this new technology is the way a scene can be shown through angles which any Camera can't reach . This technology can be and I think should be used in all the Sci-fi and Fantasy flix as it will enhance the viewing experience manifolds .

Well , enough about the technology , the movie starts off with a typical King's party in which there is enough wine and women . And during this party an unexpected guest comes , in the form of Demon and kills many people in a very brutal way . This whole brutality is stopped when the King Hrothgar , played by Anthony Hopkins , confronts the Demon Grendel which is played by Crispon Glover (who played George Mcfly in BTF series) . King Hrothgar closes the Royal Auditorium where the entire celebration takes place and announces an award for the person who would kill Grendel , the demon .

Then comes the Hero Beowulf played by Ray Winstone who has killed many such demons in the past and is not afraid of this one also . He falls for the beautiful Queen of the King , Wealtheow who hates the Old King . The King also makes Beowulf a hero in the town and trusts him blindly . The king promises Beowulf that if he kills the demon he can have the Queen for his life . Beowulf kills the demon as promised but gets a new surprise in the form of Angelina Jolie who plays the mother of Grendel and who is a monster herself . Then starts the whole sequence of Beowulf becoming a king which turns out to be a sort of a sin .

The whole movie is quite slow at pace apart from an exciting climax sequence which kinda makes up for the dullness of the middle portion of the movie . The movie scares you a little bit at times and has a lot of violence in it . Although , the violent scenes being animated don't make your stomach feel bad . The movie is a Visual treat with quite scenic picturesque and also beautiful use of colors . The whole experience is quite different and I can't imagine how incredible it would look in an 3D - IMAX theater .

The acting performances are also good and even though it is animated it still captures very well the emotions of characters . The eyes of queen Wealtheow are very expressive and despite of very less dialogues the expressive eyes make up for the shortage of words . Anthony Hopkins very well portrays the character of a king . The main lead Ray Winstone has performed very well . He spoke like a Hero and the dialogue delivery was up to the mark .

The movie has a never ending type of end and leaves the viewer with a question in mind . The movie has an underlying message in a way which says that there is no need of demons when Human beings are themselves turning into ones .

Overall I wasn't very satisfied with the storyline considering the past track record of Robert Zemeckis yet the whole new experience made for it . I would recommend this movie just to experience a new kind of cinema .
This one is still worth a watch but only in Theaters , not on DVD .

Movie Rating : Two and Half Stars , for the fantastic climax sequence and the whole new style of cinema .

Om Shanti Om --- Movie Review

A typical 70's style drama with the budget and technical skill of today is what best describes Om Shanti Om . Farah's second attempt to the MASALA Picture and a better one than the First . This movie has a better story than Main Hoon Na . SRK is as always fabulous and Deepika is a great prospective find .

The movie starts in the 70's where SRK is a junior artist Om Prakash Makhija who aspires to become someone like Rajesh Kapoor who is a superstar in the movie . He has a mom who also aspired to become actress in her days and she has full confidence that her son would one day become a superstar . Shreyas Talpade is a friend of SRK who also thinks the same . Apart from becoming a star Om also has another dream who is none other than Shanti ( Deepika ) who is a superstar herself . Arjun Rampal is a Big shot producer of that time . SRK saves Deepika from an accident on the sets of her film and thus becomes a friend of her . She is secretly married to Arjun who wants to keep this secret till his next movie gets completed . But Deepika being pregnant insists him of telling the truth to the world . But Arjun fears that his project would get scrapped once everybody knows the truth . Somehow Om learns this truth and when Arjun kills Deepika , he also gets killed in between because he tries to Save her .

The first half is in the 70's but it is not a spoof of it . It makes fun of the characters of that time but in a healthy manner . SRK very well portrays the struggle and aspirations of a Junior artist who dreams to be a Star . Deepika looks like a star and is very beautiful and graceful . She has very less dialogues but still leaves an impression which shows her Mattel . Farah has gone into very tiny details and presented the 70's very well . She has grown as a Director . The first half is very musical and also very funny and on the move .

The second Half starts with SRK as Om Kapoor aka OK who is a superstar and has got everything that he once longed for . He is Phobic to fire and his past life is somewhere at the back of his mind . The best part is that the way SRK makes fun of today's movies also . The guest appearances at the Filmfare awards are very funny by Akshay and Abhishek . The party after SRK receives the award has the song Diwangi which is a real treat for all the viewers . After the song , OK meets Mic who is a big producer of Hollywood who worked in India in the 70'S And is played by Arjun Himself . Om meets him and remembers everything about his past life .

Then starts the whole revenge sequence where SRK plots how to take the revenge of his and shanti's death . He plans to restart the Incomplete film which Arjun was suppose to make along with Shanti . SRK tries to find a girl who is look alike of Shanti and wallah !!! he meets Sandy who looks exactly the same as Shanti but is not a re-incarnation of her . She helps him to take his revenge and at the end somehow with a twist manages to take it . This whole revenge sequence is little slow and doesn't have the fun element that the whole movie had . It also doesn't have the creepy feeling that KARZ had . In all , this part is what the audience will not like that much .

In the Entire movie Shahrukh says that -- " End तक हमारी filmon में सब कुछ ठीक ठाक हो जाता है , Happys Endings " . But looks like this " Happys Endings " is not as happy as it should have been . Still the entire movie has lot of मसालेदार मनोरंजन to offer and will make you smile this Diwali . Though the entire team of this movie has worked really hard and I would like to congratulate them on this but still a little disappointment in the end which kinda spoils the show a little bit . The movie would be loved by previous generations and also to an extent liked by today's generation . The movie is a treat for any person who ever dreamt to become an actor or aspired to get into the industry and there are lots of them in every city of India .

The Music is great by Vishal and Shekhar and the tune by Pyaarelal is just amazing and reminds us of 70's music . "Tumko Paaya " is the best song and maybe Vishal-Shekhar's best work . The music holds the movie very well and keeps it entertaining all throughout .

The problem this movie will face is the Publicity which had been done for it . When you do Publicity at such a large scale people's expectation tend to rise and maybe due to these expectations they may get a little disappointed . Still if you would expect a 70's drama and then watch the movie , then you would be happy .

For the fun filled first half and fabulous performance by SRK and Deepika this movie is still worth a watch and is expected to be a Hit . For good family entertainment this diwali , go and watch it .

Film Rating :::Three and Half Star bcoz I am a Die hard SRK fan and Deepika - " I Love You " !!!.

Khoya Khoya Chand -- Music Review

" Melody meets poetry " is the best line that can describe this album in one line . The magic of Swanand Kirkire and Shantanu Moitra works again after "Parineeta" . The feel of this one is similar to that of Parineeta . The duo got instant fame with Parineeta and now they are back with another similar album after long time .

The album starts with the Title Track "Khoya Khoya Chand " which is an excellent qawwali with voices from Swanand Kirkire and Ajay Jhingran . This one is the best track on album no doubt and after Himesh's "Aawan Ankhiyan -- Aahista Aahista " is the best qawwali I've heard in long time . The vocals in between the qawalli are just perfect and are recited by Lyricist himself so are done with best tone . This track will remind you of the qawwals who performed on stages with full on "Josh" . The track starts off a little slow but later gets into the qawwali mood soon . Both the singers have sung it beautifully and this one is bound to get popular .

The second track is "Yeh Nigahein " by Sonu Nigam and Antara Choudhury which reminds you of the Black and White era of Indian Cinema of Kishore and Geeta Dutt . Both Sonu and Antara have sung this one in typical 50's style . The music on this one is also very melodius and also has a club feeling to it with a little bit of Jazz feeling . This song would sound good even on an Old Radio with no Bass effect and Stereo sound .

The third song " Chale Aon Saiyaan "is by Shreya Ghoshal and is a typical Classical "Mujra" style song with lyrics also having the same feeling . Shreya being a hardcore classical singer pulls it of effortlessly . The music is also very classical with appropriate use of Tabla beats .

Then comes "Khushbu Sa " which is sung by Hamsika Iyer which is a very sensual and romantic in its feel . The music is also very club style and reminds one , of the Rekha's Item number in Parineeta sung by Alisha Chinoy . This one is also sung quite well by Hamsika and she sounds really good . She can sing songs like these in future also .

After this track is "O Re Paakhi " which is a soft romantic sad song which is sung brilliantly by Sonu alone . Sonu is the best and he proves this again and again . He has a great understanding of melody and he sings according to it . A good Sad song after a long time . This one would surely go down as one of the best tracks of this album . With minimal music in this one Shantanu has also given his best music sense into this one .

" Sakhi Piya " by Pranav Biswas and Shreya Ghoshal is also a good slow romantic song with good classical renditions by Pranav . This one is also very Melodious and Classical and it has probably the maximum classical input in the entire album . The song would sound very beautiful if used in Background in the Film . It is a treat for Classical Lovers and is must listen for them .

Then at last is " Thirak Thirak " which is a duet by Sonu and Shreya . This one is a little fast then others and its starting reminds one of the starting of " Honthon Mein Aisi Baat 's " starting . After one and half minutes of musical start the song starts off in a very different tone . The constant sound of Ghungru in the entire song sounds really good . In the entire song one can easily listen to the excellent chemistry between Sonu and Shreya's Singing . At the end of the song there is a line from the title track khoya-khoya which is sung very beautifully by both of them . This one is also one of the best out of this entire album.

The entire album is very Melodious and Lyrically Poetic and is a food for your soul and is a good change from usual Disco Beats of today's music . The album is one of the Best albums of year and is also very Nostalgic . This one for sure will leave you nostalgic and is strictly recommended for all music lovers .

Album Rating : This one gets " three and half stars " and is a must buy for everyone. Melodious and Magical .

Jab We Met -- Movie Review

The longtime real life couple Shahid-Kareena's last reel life appearance was a good farewell to them . Jab We Met is a good romantic comedy with a fabulous performance by Kareena and Shahid also did his part quite well . For the first time there Chemistry on screen was looking good .

The movie starts with shahid being dumped by his girlfriend who gets married to some other guy . Shahid gets miserable and goes away from his own life and then accidently meets very bubbly and lively Punjabi Girl , Geet , who makes him forget the past and live life the way she does. She is a blabber-mouth and even talks when she is sleeping . On the contrary Shahid is as very serious guy who is the son of very famous businessmen and is quite confused about his life . Geet ( Kareena ) doesn't hide anything from him & tells him about herself and how she wants to run away with the love of her life , a guy from Simla .

Kareena meets Shahid on a train and misses her train because of him . He takes her to her home back to Bhatinda and in the journey Shahid falls in love with her and also gets a new perspective of life . Kareena is a briliant actress with acting running in her blood veins. She looks very cute and surprisingly very much in shape .

In the second half the story turns the other way as the guy , whom Kareena loves , dumps her and she lives Nine months in misery in Simla away from her home , from where she runs away for him . Then Shahid comes to know about this and he teaches Kareena the same things what she tought him earlier about life . And after this strangely her lover comes back and apologises . She accepts her apology and takes him back to Bhatinda to marry him and Shahid supports them . What happens afterwards is left for you guys to watch .

I am big time fan of "Socha Na Tha" and I think it is one of the best Sweet-Romantic comedy film and " Jab We Met " has also been made with same spirit , yet it is not as good as the first one was . Director Imtiaz Ali has something for " Running away " from home as he uses the same situation in the second movie also . But he knows his job quite well and he has directed this one nicely . The Pace of the movie is good with some songs in between which were quite a disappointment . The second half is not as good as the first one yet it is bearable .

Pritam , stop stealing American Tunes and do something original . Only two songs were worth it and the rest were quite boring . Maybe Imtiaz should have stuck with Sandesh Shandilya who did a good job in "Socha Na Tha" .

Kareena is the best thing in the movie and Shahid was also good . Shahid should now get over his chocolate boy image and start doing roles with some serious nature . Like this movie , he should do the roles which are little serious because it suits him . He is a good actor but he needs to work a little more hard to change his image . Maybe he should take some Acting Lessons from his Dad who could polish him very well .

Overall the film is quite good and worth a watch . All the couples would enjoy it therefore I didn't enjoy it as much , as I am still single . Well I also want to say " Jab We Met " , is any body listening ?

Movie Rating : Two and Half Stars for Kareena's Good performance and
direction .

Mumbai Salsa -- Movie Review

Movies surrounding urban setup are now being made in lot more frequency than before , considering the new breed of Multiplex Audience . The same is the case with Mumbai Salsa . It is a movie about today's youth , which has a cosmopolitan lifestyle . The movie revolves around a group of 4 boys and four girls who are in different fields of work and are also very different from each other yet are very much depended on each other for all the emotional and mental support .

Movie starts with a brief introduction of each of characters of the movie and what are there principles in life . All of them are single and desperately want to have a relationship with the opposite sex . Both the lead actor and actress are dumped by their respective partners and hence they meet each other in a bar and then fall in love eventually , after some dramatic situations . All the other friends also hook up with the each other and eventually fall in Love and get Married.

This sounds quite usual as it happens with other movies also , but what is different about this movie is the treatment it has been given by Director . Manoj Tyagi the director has done his job excellently . He has stuck to the Hardcore Mentality of todays youth and has portrayed the lifestyle of young people very well .

All the leading actors and actresses have given a good performance and the Songs and Music is also decent . The director has very rightly casted the main actors of the movie with everybody suiting to its character . The advantage of taking new people in a movie is that you can present them in which way the story demands since the Audience doesn't have any preconceived image of the actors . They can very comfortably carry the image of character without thinking much .

Only one complaint , the end is a little bit stretched . The Director could well have cut it short . Even though it is just 2 hrs long yet the story kinda gets over by one and half hours so the last half hour is been just stretched a little .

In the end Mumbai Salsa is a Decent Movie with quite good comic scenes . Yet it would be liked only by youth of Indian Metros only .

Movie Rating : Two Stars ** for good natural performances and good direction .

Top 10 - Kids Movies ???

Bollywood has always stayed away from films based on kids with very few exceptions . Those who dared to go into this lane got lost somewhere and ended up at a dead-end . I looked back in Film history & I could not find many good films whose central theme was based on kids . The number of such films is so less that it can be counted on fingers . Whereas on the contrary in Hollywood there have been numerous films that are made just for kids . In India some of the kids movies which have been made are just so pathetic and are so much inspired from Hollywood that it is even hard to watch them once . Indian film makers don't give any importance to such cinema whereas greats like Steven Spielberg have also made it .

I am glad that Aamir has ventured into this stream that too in his debut movie as a director . I would like to appeal to all the biggies who make so many melodramatic films but don't even think about Indian kids and just work for Money . They can risk a little bit money in this direction and they should , to start a new trend .

Still there are some films that have been made in India which are worth a mention . Here's my top 10 list of kids movies :

1. Mr. India : The best movie which is made for kids by far . It is not only first science fiction film of India but also a great movie for Kids . The emotional portrayal of Arun by Anil Kapur as the uncle of so many orphan kids is very moving .The legendary character of Mogambo (Amrish Puri ) creates a place in every kids mind . The kids that were selected for this movie by Shekhar Kapoor were just fabulous and they acted very naturally without any effort . The movie also sends out a message not only for kids but also adults . The science fiction element serves as a food for imaginative and creative minds of Kids . I have seen this movie well over 30-40 times as a kid and I still enjoy it . The best part in my opinion is the originality of Script . This movie deserves more applause than it has got .

2.Makdee: Directed by Vishal Bhardvaj this is a good kids movie which revolves around two twin sisters , Chunni and Munni . One sister in simple and the other one is naughty. This is a fun filled movie with some scary scenes for kids . Pure and healthy fun and also gives a good message to kids in the end. The songs are also quite good . Vishal Bhardvaj , I think is the only mainstream director who has made films for kids but this one was made before Omkara which got him fame . Shabana Azmi has given a splendid performance in the role of Makdee , the witch .

3. Koi ... Mil Gaya : This movie in my opinion is not a pure Kids movie but I had to put it in the list because there are very few such movies . Still Hrithik's fabulous performance as mentally underdeveloped kid and Director Rakesh Roshan's sense of Direction make this movie worth a watch for every Kid . This movie does not send any message to the kids but some of the scenes are quite moving . Though the sequel is not at all a film for kids , this one has some elements of it . As a Director I think Rakesh Roshan can make a big budget full length feature film for kids .

4. Jajantaram Mamantaram :
This movie made under i-Dream production by Soumitra Ranade is a good attempt as a movie for kids . Based on the old Gujarati fable of Bakasur, which tells the tale of a sleeping giant who wakes up only to eat people. The film is also inspired by Gulliver's Travels . The stories of Bakasur and Gulliver have been adapted to a contemporary situation. Aditya (Jaaved Jaaferi), a Mumbaiite, reaches Shundi, a mythical island. To his surprise, he finds the inhabitants to be much smaller than him. Though initially the villagers feel that Aditya is there to harm them, they soon make friends with him. However, danger is lurking in the background. Chattan Singh (Gulshan Grover), the army chief, has with him a magical contraption with which he creates Jhamunda, a giant. Jhamunda terrorises the village. He coaxes the villagers into giving him children from time to time for food in return for a promise that he will not plunder the village. The movie didn't work due to little loose screenplay and boring songs in between . Yet it is a good attempt and worth a watch if you are a kid

5. Blue Umbrella : This movie recently won the National Award for kids film . Again , Directed by Vishal Bhardvaj Blue Umbrella is a screen version of Ruskin Bond's short story Blue Umbrella. It is about a young girl Binya (Shriya) who trades her superstitious lucky charm of bear nails in return of a Japanese Blue Umbrella with tourists. Instantly she becomes a center of attraction of the villagers. A small trader Nandakishore (Pankaj Kapoor) eyes of the Blue Umbrella and tries all ways of get the umbrella. When Binya's umbrella is stolen – the police raid Nandakishore's shop. Facing this humiliation and to show that he too can afford or buy an umbrella, Nandakishore orders a similar Japanese Red Umbrella. Once the Red Umbrella comes, he gains back popularity and respect from everyone in the village. The movie is well directed and just perfect portrayal of Ruskin Bond's story . Vishal is an excellent director and he should keep doing such projects . He also said in an interview that kids films are rarely made in India whereas films like Harry Potter are breaking Box Office records worldwide.

Oops!!! I ran out of movies , my Top 10 has just gone half way and thats it , I can't think of any other movie which is made for Kids . Well this is how pathetic the condition is . There were several unsuccessful attempts like "Raju Chacha" & "Chain Kulli ki main kulli" but I still would like to applaud their producers for at least attempting to make one .

So its high time that Indian Producers & Directors pay heed to my sincere request -- " Guys Please Make some more movies for Kids of India , they should not need to watch towards the Hollywood !!! "

Rate This Story :

Bhool Bhulaiyaa -- Review

First of all sorry for the late review ( I am saying just like the whole world reads it !!! ) But still . I couldn't watch the movie because it was Running House Full on the weekends and I couldn't get a ticket. Considering that by now a lot of you might have seen it or heard about it , for the first time I am giving a full review . Those of you who have yet not seen it you can skip some paras and go down straight .

*** SPOILER Warning --- Plot Details Under ***

Well the movie starts quite well and starts in Priyadarshan style with all the Fun and Frolic . It starts with Priyan's Favourite star Paresh Rawal and also his other favourite Asrani acting some quite funny sequences ( The third favourite Om Puri is missing in this one ) . Paresh Rawal renovates the King's Old Palace which is widely popular as Haunted Mansion throughout the Village . The starting sequences very effectively shows that how some mistakes and co-incidents can take a shape of some paranormal activity just because of Fear and Imagination running wild . On this effort I would like to compliment Priyadarshan who tried to expose the so called paranormal activities and how they exist in our minds only . He has done this in his own funny ways .

Then comes the Prince , Siddharth Chaturvedi ( Shiny Ahuja ) from US along with his wife Avni ( Vidya Balan ) . He marries Vidya in US without saying anything back home in India to his Uncle Badrinarayan (Manoj Joshi ) , whose adopted Daughter Radha ( Amisha Patel ) was waiting since her childhood to marry the Prince . Shiny is supposed to be the next king after his fathers death and hence is subjected to crowning ceremony . Well I forgot to mention the haunted palace is being renovated by Paresh on the orders of shiny because his wife Vidya wants to live in a old palace being a student of architecture herself . Hence without listening to all Haunting Stories of the Villagers they go and live in the palace . Then Vidya starts exploring the whole Palace and opens a room on the third floor which has been locked because of some Spirits of and Old Dancer and her lover which have been trapped inside by some great Tantrik Yagyaprakash Bharati (Vikram Gokhale) .

Since Shiny and Vidya being from US don't believe in all this crap and hence She opens the room . Then start a series of strange things happening with every villager going paranoid and thinking it to be done by the so called spirits . Shiny still doesn't believes all this and some how due to some coincidences starts having a doubt on Amisha to be behind this due to jealousy . So Shiny decides to consult his Psychiatrist friend to help Amisha get rid of her psycho behavior . Then comes the Hero of the story Dr. Aditya Shrivastav (Akshay Kumar ) to set the whole situation straight . Akshay is best in his comic skills and he does create a laugh riot . He starts inspecting the whole situation and after a long series of events realises that Vidya Balan herself is the culprit behind all of this . He realises that due to a disturbed childhood she suffers from a multiple personality disorder and sometimes behaves as the Dancer who comes back to take revenge . He then with some help from Shiny and the Tantrik treat her in a strange way and recover her back to normal .

The most outstanding performance is delivered by Vidya Balan who at times scares you with her scary expressions ( reminds of Urmila in Bhoot ) and splendid acting performances . She is really not of her times , roles with some period element only suit her (considering Hey Babyy ) . She is no doubt among the best Female Actors in India today .

Akshay does what he is best in doing , Comedy , but with perfect acting and not by dialogues . There is nothing new by him but just the same old combo of Priyadarshan + Akshay at his best . Yet he makes you laugh the most .

Amisha has given her best because I think she can't do it better than this and Shiny is also good . He does look like a prince . Nothing much for him in it .

Paresh , Rajpal and Rasika Joshi all are tereffic actors and hence deliver what is expected from them to perfection .

Neeraj Vohra has written a good screenplay except the songs which pop in between which were quite a turn off , considering the title track being played in end credits .
The Bengali track played in between the movie is catchy and creepy both . Kudos for the background score .

The suspense behind the whole creepy things is well kept by Director and hence holds the interest of people in the story . Yet the whole flashback sequence of the Dancer and King in the end is quite boring . But during these scenes I realised how much he is inspired from South-Indian films and hence puts a little southern flavour in his movies .

I have only one complaint against Priyadarshan that he should have sticked to his Non Existence of Meta-Physical activities belief . He some how diverts from this belief and in the end makes the viewer confused that whether he/she should believe in these things or not . Instead of all the Multiple Personaliy Disorder thing he should have shown something like a Hidden Treasure being guarded by someone insider or something even more interesting . Maybe I expect a lot from him because I think he is one of the finest film-makers , its just that he is not pushing his limits .

*****Spoiler Ends Here *****

Yet it is a good Entertaining Film better than some of the last attempts of Priyadarshan . Packed with some good acting performances and tight screenplay and popular title track it is bound to work among the masses considering it is the festival season . After a long time a wholesome entertaining film has released so it will be a hit no doubt . Go for it , see a new side of Priyadarshan .

From my side it gets Two And A Half stars for good comic sequences and some good thrills in between .

Rate It :

Taare Zameen Par -- Trailer Review

The first promo of Taare Zameen Par is out now and to be fair it is quite simple & interesting just as the story of the movie would be . For all of you who don't know TZP is Directed by none other than Actor Aamir Khan himself who also stars in it . From the promo its quite obvious that the movie is about kids who dream a lot and are also creative and imaginative .

India is a country where Largest number of movies are made in entire World and it is also the Youngest Nation of the World yet the number of movies that are Genuinely Made for Kids can be counted on Fingers . On the contrary , in Hollywood some of the finest movies are made for Kids ( leaving apart the Animated ones ) . Aamir has been always known for making brave decisions and I am not surprised he decided to make this one all by himself . In past there have been a number of unsuccessful attempts of kids' movies ( like Raju Chacha ) but still I hope or rather I should say know that this one would not be the same .

Now talking about the trailer it shows some of the cutest kids in it yawning and gazing inquisitively like all kids do . Then there is a kid ( probably the lead ) who is looking at a painting and imagining something and behind him is sitting Aamir who is in same Innocent and surprised mood as the Kid is . The trailer very effectively brings out the Innocence of kids and in my opinion also their creative side . The Teaser Trailer doesn't reveal much about the story and just sends out the basic theme of movie .

I saw the poster very closely and I found a spacecraft drawn by child on which it is written "Ahmed in NASA " . I am not sure about the name though . But from this it looks like the main kid in the movie is interested in Space and probably wants to work in NASA and dreams of becoming an astronaut . This is just a guess not sure though.

The movie is out in the theaters from 21st December and I can't wait to see it .

Rate It :

NO SMOKING -- Music Review

Kudos to Vishal Bhardwaj , good soundtrack with an entirely new feel and some quite very smooth tracks . Vishal apart from Film Making also knows his Music quite well and no need to say anything about legends , I mean, Gulzaar Saab .

The first track "Jab Bhi Cigaret - Jazz " is really in my opinion the finest Jazz attempt in Indian Music Ever . The jazz in the song sounds like it is straight from the some jazz club of America . The song is sung by none other than Adnan Sami who I think is perfect for any Jazz Song . Jazz is all about "smoothness" in sound and both music and voice of adnan deliver it perfectly .

Then comes another great track "Phoonk De--Female" which is very stylishly sung by none other than Rekha Bhardwaj ( " Namak Isk Ka - Omkara " fame) . The song is sung in such a style and flow that it has to work among the masses apart from the splendid music in it . She has a different sound and style and so are her songs. The song has a unique combination of club beats and desi dhol beats.

There is another version of the same song by Sukhwinder Singh which is entirely different from this version and is also different on Lyrics part . The song can work in a rapid moving sequence in the movie . Sukhwinder has sung in his own style and is definately not a remix of previous version , yet Rekha's version is better .

After these there is "Kash Laga " which I think would work only if played in background of the movie . I mean if the story would keep running along with the song then the song would work else it would fail and may prove to be a distractor while watching the movie. The song is sung by some new singer I believe. It has a sufiana-qawalli type touch in it which sounds a little good .

" Ash Tray " is a not appealing in any case . The only lull in the entire album .

At the end comes there is another fast version of " Jab Bhi Cigarette " by Sunidhi Chauhan who sings in typical sunidhi style but one thing is quite interesting is that the lyrics of the song are the same that are sung by male voice . I mean to say she says " Peeta Hoon " instead of " Peeti Hoon " which I think is done on purpose considering Cigarette being not so popular among the opposite sex as the male & the Director didn't want to put any Ideas in the head of Public .

On a whole the entire soundtrack is quite good with some great singing by Rekha & Adnan and a different feel to music is worth a "listen" . Here's Wishing best of luck to
Anurag Kashyap ( Black Friday ) . May his film be as good as the previous one & not a longer version of the short story of " Darna Mana Hai ".

Music Rating -- ***

Best Tracks : Jab Bhi Cigarette (Jazz) & Phook De (Club Mix )

Are Ranbeer-Sonam a repeat telecast ?

Just watched the new song "Maasha Alla " of saawariya and one thing that struck me was acting of new guy on the block Ranbir Kapoor .

His acting looks quite similar to apne SALLU Bhai , looks like Sanjay Sir has not yet forgotten his first love Salman & Ash . The new girl , Sonam Kapoor , is also shown very quite in the rushes but I am sure there would be some childish naughtiness in her character in the movie also similar to what there was in Aishwarya Rai in HDDCS . Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is my all time favourite love story and I have watched it many times . But Looking at the rushes of the movie I am getting a feeling that there will be many similarities in the acting of Ranbeer & Sonam with Salman - Ash .

Since both of them had completly submitted themselves in Sanjay Sir's hand , a lot of past will be seen in them . Same Innocense & Naughtiness of Salman-Ash will be seen in them . Lets see ahead , everyone knows what happened to Salman & Ash , so Ranbir plz be careful at least I don't want the History to repeat itself .

Johny Gaddar ---- Movie Review

Two Movies in two consecutive weeks , both Suspense Thrillers and both being very Different from each other , yet fantastic entertainers . My last review was on Manorama .... & that one was a surprise package and now this one is on Johny Gaddar which is another surprise package coming from a director who has made only one movie i.e. Ek Hasina Thi ( Urmila & Saif Starrer ) .
Johny Gaddar as the name suggest involves a Traitor & the whole movie surrounds It ( I am not mentioning the sex bcoz that's the secret ) . Well the movie involves a gang whose leader is Dharmendra (as Sheshadri ) and it involves four other members Star Cast
Neil Mukesh...... Vikram
Zakir Hussain ...... Shardul
Vinay Pathak ...... Prakash
Dayanand Shetty ... Shiva .

The movie revolves around a Drug deal worth Rs. 2.5 Crores and how things happen dramatically around this deal . The movie is inspired from Old Classic Thrillers like Parwana (*ing Amitabh Bacchan & Naveen Nishchal ) and Johny Mera Naam ( *ing Dev-anand ) . The storyline is a typical Pulp Fiction Novel type involving Sex , Crime & Violence yet it keeps the Viewer bound to it due to the Suspense element in it . The movie is shot in Film Noir genre , much like Quentin Tarantino's (Kill Bill fame ) Movies . This seems to first of its kind yet there have been similar attempts in the 70's and 80's in Bollywood itself .

Apart from everything , the movie is a worth a watch and will be liked by suspense and action lovers . The new boy Neil Mukesh ( Son of singer Nitin Mukesh ) performs quite well & makes his presence felt among other great actors . The movie is well shot and well directed . Sriram Raghvan comes out of the Shadow of RGV and proves his Mettle as a director . Considering Ramu's movies going nowhere maybe he should appoint him ( Ramu ) as an assistant . Rimi Sen plays her part well and the remaining cast also does well . The common factor among Manorama.. & Johny Gaddar , Vinay Pathak , again proves that he is more than a mere comedian .

On a whole the movie is one of its kind & worth a watch , go for it , you'll love it . After this I hope Sriram Raghvan will get some courage to make another of this kind , perhaps on a bigger scale . The movie gets three Stars ( *** ) from my side for its distinctive style & fast paced storyline .

Rating : *** Worth a watch .

INDIA WINS ! ! ! ---- Dhoni The Gambler wins the last Hand

SOURCE-ICC Official Website

There was no time to chew finger-nails or even think of thumping hearts as India's bowlers dug deep in their self-belief in successfully defending its low total of 157 for five to lay its hands on the ICC World Twenty20 crown with an emotional six-run victory over Pakistan at the magnificent Wanders Cricket Stadium.

There could not have been a more hard-fought contest than this one, with there being many heroes again, the team being the biggest. Gautam Gambhir (75) and Rohit Sharma (30 not out) managed the Indian innings at either end of the 20 overs and helped India to 157. Rudra Pratap Singh and man of the match Irfan Pathan took three wickets each to keep India in the hunt.

Pakistan had its stellar performers too. Umar Gul led the bowling as Pakistan kept India's batsmen in check; the two spinners Mohammed Hafeez and man of the series Shahid Afridi were instrumental in applying the brakes in second quarter of the Indian innings. And when it batted, opener Imran Nazir (33) and Misbah-ul-Haq (43) kept their chins up.

India's two left-arm seamers made the difference between winning and losing, when the bowlers were left the task of defending 157. With Mahendra Singh Dhoni leading the team with a calm and assured head, the team embraced the never-say-die spirit to keep Pakistan at bay, especially after Nazir gave the chase a fantastic start with 21 runs off S Sreesanth's first over .

Pathan finished with three for 16 – a perfect response to Gul's figures of three for 28. He claimed the wickets of Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi in an over to swing the game India's way until Misbah-ul-Haq waded into Harbhajan Singh by hitting the off-spinner for three sixes in an over. The faster bowlers returned to stop the Pakistanis in their track.

With Sohail Tanvir also claiming two sixes of Sreesanth, Pakistan was in the chase but the fast bowler claimed his revenge and then bowling the final over, Joginder Sharma got Misbah-ul-Haq to play the lap shot to the man at short fine leg to complete an amazing win and cap a tournament in which the Indians died several deaths but refused to give in.

There really was no time to do anything but keep eyes on the ball during the thrill-a-minute contest that advertised the beauty of T20 cricket.
And as the DJ played the title track from Chak de! India, there was not a dry eye in the stadium. The Pakistani fans were in tears that Misbah-ul-Haq took the side so close and could not seal the win. The Indians could not control their emotions any longer and let the tears flow. Some tried to sing along and realized their voices were choked.