Luck By Chance --- Movie Review

The second BIG film of both Farhan and 2009 , Luck By Chance , is out now and the film stars a lot of big names of bollywood in special appearances apart from Farhan and company . The film also has some good actors like Konkana Sen Sharma , Rishi Kapoor , Juhi Chawla , Saurabh Shukla and Dimple Kapadia . The film has been directed by the debutant director Zoya Akhtar . She has also decided to start with Direction and I hope she has no plans to shift to acting just like her brother has . As soon as the promos of the film were on air , expectations started to rise and people were expecting a good film in the beginning the of the year after the disappointing 2008 . CC2C has already dampened the spirits to an extent and I decided to watch this one for a change .

The film has been publicised as a Film on Film Industry and no film except OSO has worked which was based on Film Industry . Luck By Chance , according to me is more of a Love Story that has Bollywood as the set-up . The film's story is nothing but a little bit of Raju Ban Gaya Gentlemen and a little of Fashion and a little of some other films . Nothing so new about it that we don't know . People know about the compromises and sacrifices that one has to make to land up a career in the glamour world . When I saw the film's promos I was expecting to see the struggle of the lead character and quite opposite to it I got to see him getting too lucky too soon without much of a Hard work . It stresses more on his love and relationships angle rather than his journey towards stardom .

It is a slow film from the word go and on top of it, it is a full length feature film of close to three hours . The slow pace makes it pretty unbearable for an average cinema goer who expects some entertainment at a fine pace . The film is very much on the slower side and what could have been a good film of two hours has been made into a longer slower one . I am sad to say this but people started walking off without even watching the end of the film in the theater . The reason being the length and slow pace of the film . The story was also pretty much predictable and nothing in it to hold the audience for such a long span . The same was the case with Khoya Khoya Chand but it was expected from that film since it had a backdrop of the sixties . It was also a visually much more interesting film and had some really nice music .

The so many guest appearances also couldn't help film and were just like a small pills of excitement . The guest appearances barring that of SRK were all dull and felt quite out of the place . It almost felt like they were forced in to make the film a little popular . The people who did guest appearances in OSO would have been happy after watching the film and I am sure the same won't be the case with this film . I don't know , I felt like Zoya was pretty confused while making the film or maybe pretty much influenced under the Director brother and Writer father . The dialogues by Jaaved sir were also no good and the film in any case lacked the entertainment quotient . The film has a very Serious tone and lacks humour and maybe this is what will hit the film most apart from its length .

Zoya didn't use actors like that of Saurabh , Juhi and Rishi to their max . They had very small roles and that too were not that entertaining . Comparing this film to Jaane Tu which also had several such actors and Abbas in that film very well used all of his cast members . The script by Zoya herself was very weak and didn't had enough to hold the film . I don't want to be too harsh on the film but honestly speaking it was a boring film for most of its length .

The story revolves around Vikram Jaisingh and Sona Mishra who are both talented and hard working but it is because of their destiny that they land up in different places . Konkana goes the hard way and Farhan goes the smart way . The film revolves around the successes and failures of the lead couple and their love story . The story as I said earlier was very much predictable and had nothing that excited me . The script of the film also doesn't justify its name and has hardly underlined the luck factor that much .

The music was good but again not used to its maximum and in any case both Konkana and Farhan don't have that magnetic personalities to hold the songs on the screen . Though Farhan does a good job acting but as always he has very limited to offer and if script is not good he cannot take matters in his own hands . He is not a superstar material and he should not opt for acting as a full time job . He is a fabulous Director and I don't get it why doesn't he stick to that . Konkana is a good actress and she performs as expected . The only surprise was Isha Sharvani who looked quite glamorous and did her part well . She made her presence felt and was part of some entertaining scenes . Hrithik did his part well and his song has been well used for the publicity . Aamir's guest appearance was the worst of them all .

The technical aspects like cinematography and art direction were good . Zoya's script and Direction both were pretty average and were not exciting at all . She should wait for a stronger script for her next attempt . Overall , I was pretty disappointed with the film as I had a lot of expectations from both , the film and zoya . I hope it makes enough on the box office so that it doesn't lose much .

Film Rating : Two and Half Stars out of Five ; a slow and pretty much predictable film .


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Luck By Chance --- Music Review

The year is almost over and just before the end has come the music of Luck By Chance which gives a good end to the year which has been not so good in terms of music that has released . Luck By Chance is the second film as an actor for Farhan and from the promos this one looks to be more promising than his first one .The film starrs some big names like Konkana Sen Sharma , Juhi Chawla ,Hithik Roshan,Rishi Kapoor,Sanjay Kapoor,Saurabh Shukla,Dimple Kapadia,Isha Sharvani etc. etc. The film's plot revolves around a struggling actor and his journey to make his dreams come true . And as a result the songs are very much related to dreams and life that one wishes to have . Such songs always work among the audience because everybody has a dream and it results in an instant connection with the songs. Remember "Aashayein" of Iqbal . Well this album is pretty much similar in terms of content . The film is Directed by Farhan's sister Zoya Akhtar and hence the music is also by brother's favourite Shankar , Ehsaan and Loy .

The first song on the album is "Yeh Zindagi Bhi" which is a nice slow track with some really nice lyrics . Jaaved Sir always pens down some fine lyrics when it comes to the films that his son/daughter make . This song is a nice opening track and gives a nice insight of life . This song might mark the start of Farhan's journey in the film . The tune that SEL have used is really very nice and keeps the whole song pretty simple and melodious and letting the lyrics do their job . In such songs the lyrics are always the strong point and the job of the music director is to highlight those lyrics even more with the proper tune . In all its a good slow track that very well sets up a mood to listen the further tracks . Both the singers Loy Mendosa and Shekhar Ravjiani do a good job with the vocals .

Just after the slow and soulful track comes a very upbeat and sufiana track "Baawre" . This one is a treat who love Sufiana sort of tracks and also like pure Indian folk tracks . The lyrics here are also great by Jaaved sir and Loy does a fantastic job in singing the sufiana parts . The track though belongs to Shankar for most of the part and he does a great job as usual . In this track contrary to first one the Music takes the lead and dominates the track . The lyrics are good but it is the fantastic use of different instruments and the whole rhythm that makes this song one brilliant track . SEL have done a fantastic job on this one and given full justice to the song . The song interestingly describes a Circus scenario but ironically it refers to life only in general especially of the film world .

The third track on the album is a Slow Romantic number "Pyaar Ki Dastan" . Here both lyrics and music take a very safe mode and lack the newness . The music in this track has been kept very simple and nothing new has been tried . This one is just an average track and good thing is that it has been kept simple only and would work in the film . The male singer on this one is Amit Paul . Remember him ? The guy that came second in the last Indian Idol because of some unfair regional voting for the guy that won the show . Well I wont call it a superb entry into the music scene but he is at least with good guys (SEL) and I am sure they will help him in future also . His voice though sounds quite fresh and he needs to sing a lot many songs and then only any judgement can be passed on his singing . This one was a simple track so nothing to praise about . Mahalaxmi Iyer is an established singer and she does her job well as usual .

Then comes "Yeh Aaj Kya Ho Gaya" which is a nice guitar based track with Sunidhi Chauhan giving the vocals . It is a good short track with nice use of guitar throughout . This one is also a basic track with nothing fancy about it . The lyrics on this one are not as good as compared to the other songs . It is not a weak track yet it isn't a strong one either . The song would look good along with some situation in the film and probably would feature Konkana .

Then comes the Best track on the album and one of the best released in this year , "Sapno Se Bhare Naina" . One brilliant track with some of the finest Lyrics Jaaved Sir has ever written . Just pay heed to the first line - "Bagiyan Bagiyan Baalak Bhaage , Titli fir bhi haath na laage , Is pagle ko kaun samjhaye......Sapno se bhare naina to neend hai na chaina " . Anyone who has a passionate dream that he/she sees for his/her life would just love this track and would instantly identify himself/herself with it . Not only the lyrics are great but even the music that the trio has given is just fabulous . And who else than Shankar himself could have sung it better . His strong classical base matches the passion that is required to sing the song . Overall , a brilliant track and probably one the best in the career of both SEL and Jaaved Sir . I can keep on praising it .

The last original track on the album is "O Rahi Re" . SEL return to the simple soulful mood that is there on the first track . The music and lyrics both are great on this one too . The tune is great and reminds us of the music of the old times . Shankar sings this one also in his immaculate style and does full justice to the lyrics and tune . The lyrics in this one are again very philosophical sorts and talk of life . Music lovers would definitely like the song . Overall , its a really nice track keeping the theme of the entire soundtrack intact . A perfect song to end the soundtrack .

There is one Remix version of Baawre in the end that is probably the only song with heavy techno beats . It is a nice remix and people who won't like the original version would certainly like the remix version . For guys like me still the original one is better any day . But still , the remix is a nice one and not just adds extra bass and ups the tempo . It makes it sound completely different than the original one and would definitely work .

Overall , it is one of the best albums of the year and it was really nice to end the year with such a fine album . Great lyrics packed with some good tunes and singing . SEL and Jaaved sir together have done a much better job on this one than they did on Rock On . I just hope that this film also meets all the expectations I have with it . Go buy it if you are a true music lover .

Album Rating : Four out of Five Stars ; Great Package in total for music lovers .

Krazzy 4 --- Movie Review

Filmkraft's latest release Krazzy 4 released this week with a lot of hype surrounding its title track and it seems that it is nowadays becoming a fashion to have some controversy during the release of a film . Anyways , the film has released along with its Title track starring SRK an HR . But in spite of the two tracks performed by them the film still has to connect with audience to survive at the Box office and Krazzy 4 fails to an extent in that department . The film is Directed by the assistant director of Rakesh Roshan , Jaideep Sen . Though he is a debutant Director but the commercial elements of Krazzy four remind us of the movie that Rakesh use to once make like Koyla and Karan-Arjun . The same Dialogues , filled with emotions and melodrama are in excess in this movie . And as a result the film will not go down well with the more practical and less emotional audiences of the Metros . But it can do quite well in smaller centers because it is a typical commercial film with a lot of Patriotism in it . Sounds strange isn't it ? A comedy film with Patriotism , that too releasing nowhere near Independence Day or Republic Day . But thats the truth of the film . It makes a remark on the society of today and shows that how crazy , people are getting today and how the people at a mental institute are much better than those roaming on the streets in crores like us .

The film as the name suggests has Four crazy yet not so crazy people - Rajpal , Irfan , Arshad and Suresh . They have a doctor (Juhi) who takes them out of the institute just to treat them as a normal human beings and how her whole plan gets messed up and in the process the not so crazy people make other people crazy and make us feel that how crazy are we that we are sitting , watching this film . Just kiddin , the film isn't that bad either but it still is not as it could have been . The people expect a good film from Producer after films like Koi mil Gaya and Krissh , but they get something quite low from their expectations .

Well , the story proceeds and their Doctor(Juhi) gets Kidnapped and how they not only catch the kidnappers but also expose the dirty nexus of Police , Criminals , Politicians and Businessmen . The businessman behind Juhi's kidnap being her husband itself Rajat Kapoor . The film is of only just over two hours but the still it moves so slowly that it kinda gets loose at several points . The basic film of the story is just this much -- 4 people who are not so crazy help catch the kidnappers of their doctor . And around this short story is the whole Patriotic and society addressing message has been wrapped up and a film has been made . People who are expecting a good comedy will get disappointed because it has comic moments but not that funny .

Overall , it has clean humour with a message for society which has been given in a typical melodramatic way . The message has not been delivered in the way movies like Munnabhai M.B.B.S. or Rang De Basanti did . The producers thought of the message first and then wrapped a story around that message . Whereas it was the other way round in case of Munnabhai and RDB . Both had a story first which had an underlying message in it . And everybody knows what impact these movie had on society in large .

The acting performances by all the actors are decent and Juhi Chawla is back in her typical "Crying" and pathetic dialogues that don't even suit her . I don't know why Directors make her cry when she is quite a bubbly girl in real life . She has nothing much in the entire film , yet she reminds us of her peak days when she used to cry in her movies like Darr and Daraar (starring Arbaz Khan ) . Rajpal is as always at his best and Suresh doesn't speak at all but still performs well . Irfan has also performed well and Arshad warsi looks good only as a second lead and cannot carry the entire film on his shoulders . There are few technical glitches in the film but overall it is quite OK and might be liked by emotionally patriotic audiences . The movie is bound to do well due to its family nature and the summer holidays being on , the kids will drag their parents to the cinemas . It has a lesson or two for kids .

One special thing about the film is that it has our National Anthem in it so guys remember to stand while you see it and don't shy away from your responsibility . When I watched the movie I was very proud to see every-body in the audi standing up to respect our national anthem . Don' wait for others , take a step and do it . Those who laugh at you are the real CRAZY people and let them laugh .

Overall , the film is not that good , as it has quite less content in it . But , if you still can digest the melodrama and are very emotionally patriotic , then you might like this movie and you can watch it once . Strictly guys if you are expecting an out and out comedy , forget it . Apart from the Title song and Rakhi's song the other songs are quite boring and make the movie slow to an extent . Rajesh Roshan has failed on his part and even Ashwini Dhir who has written the film has done quite less. Weak Script and the screenplay even weaker . Cinematography is good and the choreography is great . The set designed for SRK's song was a treat to watch apart from the song itself . So , the art Director has also done a great job .

Watch it if you have got nothing else to do and if " Khuda Kay lie " is still in the cinema halls then I would refer that one more if you like off-beat more than commercial .

Movie Rating : Two Out of Five Stars , weak script and Direction .

Jodhaa Akbar --- Movie Review

One of the biggest and mostly "awaited" movie of the year Jodha Akbar finally got released amidst some controversy . The movie is no doubt amongst the longest movie I've ever seen . The length though does not deteriorate its quality and the script demands for it . My review would also be as long as I can talk about it . The movie is one of its kind , I say so because it manages to hold people's attention for a really long time . It loses grip several times but very soon manages to gain back audience's attention . This is the reason why I felt like watching a very long but interesting TV serial of seven, Half Hour episodes , at a strech . The reason I say so because it has been dealt like that . In every Half hour slot you have 2-3 interesting scenes , 1 song and some lose scenes that can be thought of as commercial breaks .

The movie no doubt would be shown on Television in a Seven Part series some day or other . The Best thing is that Ashutosh has managed an almost Impossible task that is of keeping people awake throughout the four hours because of his capability to excite audience every now and then . The movie entirely focuses on the love story of Jodha and Akbar which again is a brave thing to do because making a period film with war element and extravagant budget and still keeping it a love story with very less violence is a very difficult task . People expect very grand war scenes in such movies with a lot of violence but such people will be disappointed . It has very less graphically violent scenes . The war sequences shown in movie disappointed me very much . Though they hired a big crew it still lacked the finesse in terms of fighting techniques . If the movie is sent for Oscars then it will show the weakness of our films in technical manner .

The movie is full of cultural practices of both Hindus and Muslims and is a crash course for the people of India and abroad on Indian Culture . There should be such movie in every 4-5 years that should remind us of our cultures else we will stop being proud of it and forget it . The movie focuses on the backlash that Akbar had to face when he decided to get married to a Hindu Rajput princess and how he manages to overcome all the opposite forces and in the process becomes a great king who respects all religions and views them in equality . The movie has managed very well to show a historical chapter in a quite interesting manner . The cast of the movie is fantastic with every character being given justice .

Talking of Acting , Hrithik Roshan has proved it once again that he not only looks and dances well but also knows how to act . His portrayal of a great King Akbar is almost perfect . A new thing I got to see was Hrithik getting angry on screen . He has never done a role of an angry person in past . Mission Kashmir had a Revenge emotion but not an emotion of pure Anger. And and actor should be able to show this emotion also and he has done it in really great manner . He has really worked hard for the movie and brought everything possible he could to his character . The thing that I didn't like was that a lot of male cast was shown with a "Gillete Clean" shave in that era when people without facial hair were considered as women . There are several such small technical glitches in the movie but the larger things that matter like Script , Screenplay and Direction were all with minimum faults .

Aishwarya was born to play historic roles and roles with period element in it . She looks very beautiful as a rajput princess and her role has the same importance as that of Hrithik's . She was horrible in her last movie with Hrithik in Dhoom 2 where only Hrithik held the show . But in this movie Aishwarya has acted at par with Hrithik . She has the charisma of a Princess . Sonu Sud has a small part but he has left a mark in that also . All of the supporting cast has also acted acted quite well . The Music is also good and has suited the movie quite well .

The Cinematography and Art Direction is top notch . The costumes and choreography is also very ethnic and authentic . Talking of the script , it is very well researched and written with utmost care . The script has clearly just focussed on the love affair between Jodhaa and Akbar and has at no point lost its track . The Editing of this movie would have been a very tough task and Ballu Saluja has done a good job .

Overall the movie is a one of its kind and its grandeur can be felt by only seeing it once . This flick is definately worth watching once . Nothing to be afraid of the length of the movie . The Direction is great and Ashutosh has managed to pull off one more good movie to his name . Nothing about it will make it a classic but its definately worth a watch . The first Indian historic film that you will experience on Dolby Sound systems and excellent Projection Systems of Today's Multiplex . Go for it .

Movie Rating : Four Stars out of Five for fantastic screen presence of Hrithik and Ash

Trailer review --- Krazzy 4

The first film as a full time producer for Rakesh Roshan has taken shape in the form of Krazzy 4 and the movie is all set to roll out in the month of April . The Movie stars Arshad Warsi , Irfan Khan , Rajpal Yadav and Suresh Menon as a group of 4 krazzy people . The first trailer of the movie is out now along with "Sunday" and it looks like another movie with ensemble cast is set to release . The trailer of the movie is also in a movie with ensemble cast . But the difference in the two is the presence of a solo star . While Sunday has Ajay Devgan as a solo star wheras Krazzy 4 has no one in it . The movie would have to be directed really well and the script would also play a big role in its success .

Talking of the promo it gives a brief intro of the krazzy cast . The first krazy guy is Arshad Warsi who is shown crazy for Anger , probably that means he gets angry soon .
Next on the list is Irfan Khan who is crazy for Cleanliness . Then comes Rajpal Yadav who is crazy for Freedom and last but not least Suresh Menon who is simply crazy . All of them probably run from some mental institute and start their crazy n funny activities in public . All of them are crazy yet not so crazy . Their is a series of crazy n funny sequences in the trailer to show their level of craziness . Then comes in the name of probably the most important of them all , that is , the director Jaideep Sen . Jaideep has earlier worked as an assistant director to Rakesh in Krissh and also in several other films . Do not confuse him with Jaideep Sahni of Chak De fame .

Apart from these the movie also has Juhi Chawla as a Doctor and Dia Mirza . It also has Rajat Kapoor who is now seen in many movies and is a fantastic actor .
The movie doesn't have the Big stars but it does have for sure two Item Numbers from two of the Biggest stars of Bollywood , SRK and Hrithik . Combined with brilliant music of Rajesh Roshan , the movie would pull the crowd for sure initially but then it would be upto the film . The Problem with Director Producers' is that they intervene in the film making and I know they can't help it . I hope such a situation wouldn't have created that Rakesh would have had to intervene . Because when two of the guys call the shots the projects goes somewhere else and loses direction .

The Promo looks good and with the coming few days we'll no more about the movie and its music which is a big factor for any movie's success .
Check out the Promo :

Jodhaa Akbar --- Music Review

The Music of Jodha Akbar is out now after a very long wait and I am little disappointed . I am myself one of the biggest fans of A. R. Rehman and everyone knows his musical genius and henceforth expects a lot from his album . Due to these expectations I was disappointed a bit because I couldn't find anything new in this album from him . He has mixed his past music and put a little new things into it . Since he is such a Master of Music the songs are bound to sound well and work among the listeners . What I didn't like that nothing was new and it was as though he listened back his two earlier period albums Lagaan & Zubeida and put in a little bit more to get Jodha Akbar . The album sounds new just due to the plain fact that the lyrics are new and different with a lot of Urdu inputs .

The music is made so that it would look good during the movie but may not work without it . The music should have been pure Indian Classical since its a movie on Indian History but I think he is so influenced by the western music and symphonies that they fall into every album of his . Just by using Indian instruments like Tabla and Flute doesn't make the music Indian . The songs are good but sound just like his past work .

Well talking of the album the first song is Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah by Mohd. Aslam and Bonny Chakravarti . This song has been made to introduce the great king Akbar and goes well about it . The song sounds good and Akbar himself would have got happy if he would have listened to this one . Here also it sounds like some western symphony of Beethoven being played with Indian instruments . Well if we don't go technical then it is a good song and perfect for movie's fast paced war sequences . This one would sound even better in a multiplex where the sound systems are really top class.

Second song is "In Lahmon Ke Daaman " by Sonu Nigam and Madhushree. This one is a little soft and melodious than the first one and has the vocals by two brilliant singers . Though the lyrics are completely in Urdu so they would have had a little problem but still sing it perfectly . After the first stanza there is a classical vocal piece which sounds a bit south-Indian classical . This one is regulation stuff from Rehman . Not impressive yet good .

The third song is the Romantic pick - Jashn-e-Bahara which is also so-so . It sounds really melodious in starting with amazing singing by Javed Ali but then it looses track somewhere in between . The Urdu lyrics sound good but would not make any sense to general Indian Audience . I know working on such a project is like walking on dual edged sword , if you make it really authentic then it doesn't work and if you don't then people say that it should have been more authentic . Overall the song is slow paced and just like "Aye Hairate"of Guru . The success of song now depends on the on-screen chemistry between Hrithik-Ash . There is also one Instrumental version of the song with distinctive use of Flute .

After this comes the qawalli by Rehman himself "Khwaja mere Khwaja" which is also very authentic . Though Rehman sings it quite well but I think it would have sounded even better if someone like Rahat Ali Khan would have sung it . Rehman always sings one song in his Album and probably this one would be quite close to his heart . But it does not have the element to work like Haaji Ali of Fiza had or for that matter in Himesh's qawalli in Ahista-Ahista . This one is more of a prayer as compared to other two .

The last song is " Mann Mohna " and is the only Hindi track on the Album and also has a sound that of a Bhajan . It has a distinct use of pure Hindi like any other Bhajan has . The Vocals are by Bela Shende sound really good . The song is like a bhajan of Meerabai with a few western inputs in between .

Overall the Album is good but not great as expected . The Lyrics are very pure whether they are Urdu or Hindi but the music by Rehman is not pure to that extent . Hence it is not a very good combination . The Director could have settled for some easier and understandable lyrics so that the songs work among the audience . Or even better he should not have included songs at all because these songs might hinder to the movie's success and might make the movie more lengthy and slow paced . He needs to cut the length of movie as far as possible or else it will fail on the Box-office . The culture of today won't be able to digest a long slow movie with such music. Rehman has not given his best into this one and is quite a disappointment .

Rehman has given great music to period films like Lagaan and Zubeida but he fails to an extent in this one . Both Movies had a British era element and this one doesn't . Overall only two songs Azeem-O-Shah and Jashn-e-bahaara are good and rest is very regular and mediocre stuff .