Category Archives: Movies

Tuesday Talkies – ‘Kill Dil’ or just Kill Me before I watch this film

Image December 9, 2014 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

You watch a movie, where everything is perfect; actors are at their best; songs are written by Gulzar; Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy; Funny dialogues; but….. wait, what about story? Oh it has a good and hit story too, only it was a story from the past.

If time travel would have been possible, I would have gone some 30 – 40years back in time and then I could have loved this movie. Seriously I would have adored it by than.

Did you remember those ‘No Vacancy‘ signs popping up on your cinema screen when hero goes out in search of job. If yes, then you can really understand my pain when I was cringing while watching this movie.

Kill Dil, is Indian Hindi Movie directed by Shaad Ali and produced by Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Banner. Remember Shaad Ali, same person who gave us ‘Saathiyaa’ and ‘Bunty aur Bubly’. RIP his direction skills. Remember Aditya Chopra, person who gave us ‘DDLJ‘ and ‘Ishaqjaade’…. RIP his story picking skills. Just to remind yo that Saathiyaa and Bunty aur Bubly was also a joint venture of these two. I am crying now 😥

Why you should watch Kill Dil?

Star Cast – Ranveer is holding this film on his shoulders. He is impeccable. His character is witty, unapologetic for the work he do, and still loving. With each passing film, Ranveer proves that he is not a regular star, but he has so much talent, only if he can get some meatier roles.

Parineet is good too, as always. But her character is not shaped well. One time she looks like a bar dancer another scene she tell us that she help rehabilatating prisoners. She is a modern girl, who falls in love with a gunda looking character without knowing exactly what he does for living. Which school did she go to??

Ali Zafar, I love your deep voice and your look too, just not in this film exactly. Again, a good actor wasted here, with nothing to do much. His character just don’t have any background, no depth and no growth. Poor Ali just looked like hero ka friend in this movie.

Govinda. Nothing to say about him. Bad comeback. I loved your dance though, but this is not your movie.

Songs – If you listen to Kill Dil songs, you will love them; but if you watch them in the movie, you may prefer taking your pee break. They are just story stopper in the movie. Worst thing is that Gulzar is associated with this movie. Lyrics are so soothing and awesome and they are beautifully enhanced by music too; but somehow it doesn’t fit in the movie.

Why you would not like to watch this movie?

Story from the past – Govinda adopt two babies who were abandoned in a dumpster. Govinda is a Don, or Gunda; so these two baby boys also grow up to be goons. They are grown up Ranveer and Zafar obviously. One of them (Ranveer) fall in love; so he tries to come clean of his awful ways. Govinda didn’t liked this decision of him at all so, he plot to destroy Ranveer’s love life. That’s it. I have watched this type of movies a thousand times; so why should I watch this? Nothing new here.

Patchy direction – You don’t feel a connection between characters or their story. It looks like movie is going in one direction and then suddenly director decides no lets take a left turn…. oops lets g right again. One time you are shooting someone in the next scene you are singing a song happily. One time you are dreading Govinda, in other scene you are romancing Parineeti without any concern of the world.

Gulzar’s narrative voice makes me feel like I was about to watch a good critically acclaimed movie but somehow I sat in the wrong hall and instead watching a c-grade movie. I just wish that if so many good things/people won’t be attached to this movie, I could have hated it better.

Kill Dil Viewers’ Review: Live Update(ibtimes.co.in)
Movie Review: ‘Kill Dil,’ a Bollywood Action Adventure(rss.nytimes.com)
Frolic Friday : What to do when you have nothing to do?(jcisnowjs.wordpress.com)
Why I have a Pink Bathroom?(jcisnowjs.wordpress.com)

Movies

Tuesday Talkies – Rang Rasiya / Color of Passion

Image November 18, 2014 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

Rang Rasiya - Story of Raja Ravi Verma — Rang Rasiya – Story of Raja Ravi Verma

I was waiting for the release of this film since it was screened at cans in 2008, but Indian censorship took its toll on this movie, and finally it is released. Main motivation for me to watch this movie was the film protagonist – Raja Ravi Verma. I wanted to see the story of that man who revolutionized the way we see our mythological characters. The man who was responsible for first creating the poster of Goddess Laxmi standing on a lotus flower, the way we saw her today in every Diwali poster. The man who made sari clad Indian women looked sexier and elegant at the same time. The man who made come alive ‘Shakuntala’, Damyanti, Urvashi, Menka, Saraswati and many more. The man whose imagination defined the pathway for Indian arts and paintings.

You can write a book on Raja Ravi Verma and still you won’t be able to do justice to capture his large persona, so when it came to capturing his life in an almost 2 hour long movie, I was skeptical. But, I was not disappointed.

‘Rang Rasiya’ is an Indian film based on the life of famous Indian Painter ‘Raja Ravi Verma’. This film is directed by Ketan Mehta of ‘Mangal pandey’ fame. It stars Randeep Hooda as the famous painter himself, and Nandana Sen as his muse. Feryna Wazheir and Paresh Rawal also plays a pivotal role in the movie.

This movie portrays character of Raja Ravi Verma from childhood moment of painting elephant on a temple’s wall to his old age when he get motivation to change his course of painting and focus on common people rather than Gods and deities. The way this character rebels against the norms of society is commendable. His selfishness when it comes to painting is shown honestly. His guilt, his progression, his imagination, everything is filmed beautifully.

The very first moment you will see the title song of the film, you will be hooked to it. It is like watching a beautiful painting taking shape in every scene of the film. But to advise you, this film is not for everyone. My husband almost dozed off twice while watching it and ultimately he left.

Randeep Hooda has proven himself again. He has aged gracefully in this film, with every scene maturing his acting skills. His progression from a clueless but passionate painter to the one who is just eager to defy everything that comes in the way of portraying true art, is commendable. He has looked every bit of Raja Ravi Verma. Most laudable were the scenes of court, or his reaction when he saw his muse for the last time.

Nandana Sen is one brave actress. She has done justice to Raja Ravi Verma’s life and paintings. She has looked beautiful and acted superbly. She was vulnerable yet strong, jealous but still madly in love, she was the goddess and yet she was the earthly woman, who could only live in imaginative world of his lover. Most worthy of the praise is the scene when she discovers that her existence to Ravi Verma’s life is only in his imagination. Nandana Sen has etched a lifetime role.

‘Rang Rasiya‘, as a film is not perfect, it’s not even close to that, but if you watch it for Raja Ravi Verma, than it is far more that perfect. It is a masterpiece, just like all the paintings of Raja Ravi Verma.

Note: All Photos credit to Rang Rasiya’s Facebook page.

‘Rang Rasiya’ team to inspire people for eye donations(manipalworldnews.com)
‘Rang Rasiya’ tweet review: Randeep Hooda shines in an otherwise average film(ibnlive.in.com)
Please bring me some trash; I want to Clean(jcisnowjs.wordpress.com)
Why I have a Pink Bathroom?(jcisnowjs.wordpress.com)

Movies

Tuesday Talkies – Happy New Year

Image October 28, 2014 jcisnowjs 3 Comments

One thing that I admire most after watching Farah and Sajid Khan‘s movies now is the time when we used to have David Dhawan and Govinda’s duo. Somehow they look more sensible and intelligent filmmakers than this younger lot. Thanks Farah, if it was not for you I could have never understood the talent of David Dhawan.

‘Happy New Year‘ is the recent blockbuster Bollywood movie which is a joint venture of Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.

It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Jackie Shroff. Phew!!! List of all A star celebrities wasted in this pakao movie.

Interesting thing about this movie is that it’s not a crap movie. It should have been, but it’s not totally crap and some of this credit goes to Abhishek Bachchan for his comic timing and ease of character playing. His role is not etched out perfectly but still he manages to bring out few laughs out of you, specially in his somewhat full monty scene. 😛

Other than him, everyone is damn disappointed by this predictable melodrama movie. What surprised me more is that story is based on a dance comepetion and movie is directed by a dance director, still you will not witness single dance sequence which you can remember after watching this movie. What Farah?? 😦

One more thing, if you are looking for a story, first go and watch previous movies of SRK and Farah and also some random 100 Bollywood movies, and you will have all the dialogues and infact whole screenplay of this film. 😛 This is the originality of Farah Khan.

I do not want to bore you by writing the obvious, instead I would like to share a funny and bang on review of ‘Happy New Year’ with you, that is written by Sahil Rizwan. Read Here.

Movies

Tuesday Talkies – Why I don’t like ‘Haider’

Image October 14, 2014 jcisnowjs 3 Comments

There must be something wrong with me…. A critically acclaimed movie, which is actually liked by everyone, and I don’t seem to like it. There must be something wrong with me. 😮

Or, not?

‘Haider’, directed by one of the most talented and one of my favorite among the few directors – Vishal Bhardwaj, is an Indian Bollywood movie, based on Hamlet of legend William Shakespeare. This movie stars Shahid Kapoor in the lead role as Haider. Tabu stars as mother of Haider and Shraddha Kapoor as his love interest. Irrfan Khan and Kay Kay Menon are also in the supporting but pivotal role.

Haider is a story of a Kashmiri boy, who came back to Kashmir from Aligarh, where he was studying; when he hear of his father’s disappearance. Shockingly, he sights his mother, Tabu, in a jovial mood, laughing and singing in company of his Chacha/uncle, Kay Kay Menon. Disturbing, right? 👿

He is searching for his father, who disappeared after he was held captive by the Indian armed personnel for assisting terrorists and hiding them in his home. While searching for his father, he embarks on a cruel and shocking discovery of torture and inhumane treatment of Kashmiris by the Indian Army and police. He soon finds out that it was his uncle who was responsible for disappearance and later murder/encounter of his father. Most shocking, his mother could also be a part of it. 😥

Who tells him all this? Enters a Ghost – Rooh – Irrfan Khan, who was a cellmate to his father in his captivity. Loved this take on Hamlet.

Whom to trust? Your own mother? Your father’s brother? A terrorist called Rooh, who claims to be your father’s friend? Your own friends Salman & Salman(hilarious stuff they do)? Or, your girlfriend, Shraddha Kapoor, who loves you but is a Indian Police/Army officer’s daughter?

This story is complex, intriguing, disturbing and immoral. Yes, this is the reason, why I did not liked this masterpiece of a movie. It is immoral of me to like this.

It’s a fantastic movie, almost a masterpiece from Vishal Bhardwaj. It is critically acclaimed. Almost every critic has praised it to the point of giving it a 5 out of 5 stars. I will not give it 5 but will give a 4 if I can just neglect the whole Kashmir angle. It is indeed a good movie.

My problem starts the moment, a doctor who is hiding terrorists in his compound, irrespective of his wife’s discontent, is shown as a Hero, as a savior. You are made to feel sorry for that creature who is harboring terrorists. 😡 You know why, because you are watching the movie from his son’s angle. But, tell me, in real world, whom would you call a hero –

a Mother who has sent his son away to study, so that he will not get involved in terrorists activities, this after she notices him hanging out with some of this genre?
Or, a Father who didn’t think twice of his wife and his son’s future, before inviting terrorists to his home?

My problem with this film does not end here.

Mother, Tabu, is shown as if she was some kind of immoral, who was behind his husband’s murder, and as soon as he disappear, she started romancing and married his husband’s brother. Later, it was shown though, that she was innocent in her husband’s death but – it was not clear, why she still stayed with Uncle even after finding out that he was responsible for her husband’s death? Story also did not clearly depict, her problems with first marriage and why she drifted so quickly towards Uncle who was flirtatious in nature all along?

Showing Indian Army in bad light. This is the crucial issue with this film. I don’t have any issue if you show, how they are torturing innocent Kashmiris and doing encounters in the name of action of Jehadi movement. But, are you also showing, what those terrorists are doing? You are showing that terrorists are attacking only to defend themselves, and Army is killing them even when they are unarmed and in prayers. You are showing that Army is conspiring with local lawyer/politician to propagate false agenda, while terrorists like Rooh are messiah, who are actually telling the truth and helping a lost young kid by giving him shelter in Pakistani camps. You are showing that Army is holding illegally all the disappeared Kashmiris, while terrorists are the ones who are giving their dead bodies respect by building their graves. You are telling me, that a common Kashmiri is fed up of frequent search routines done by the Indian Army, but you are not showing what could happen, if there is no search? What would happen, if there is no Army? What could happen to Kashmiris, if there is no Indian Army?

You are showing slogans for Azaad Kashmir. You are asking “Ham hain ki ham nahin?”. But, where is other side of this story? You are showing story of Haider, but where is Hari and harmeet’s story? Why are you filmmakers always show story from a particular religions (Muslims) perspective? If you are not bothered in showing the other view point, atleast try to balance out the negativity. You could not have made this film, on Kashmir, and in Kashmir, if it wouldn’t be with the help of Indian Army and government. Respect that.

Coming back to filmsy aspect of film. It’s a beautiful film with breathtaking backgrounds and cinematography. Songs by Gulzar – Muahh. Loved specialy the graveyard song – “aao na, so jao na”. Shahid Kapoor has done well. By far, this one is his best performance. But, it was an all in all a Tabu Film.

Tabu is just Tabu. She is incomparable. Her eyes, deep and calm, like ocean. Depth and mystery. You don’t know, whether to hate her, love her or sympathies with her.

Watch this film, just for the pure genius of Vishal Bhardwaj, because he has done the unthinkable by adapting Shakespeare’s Hamlet so beautiful in this story. I wish if he could be content enough to keep Kashmir out of it. Greedy fellow knew that Kashmir is the angle giving it all the masala and viewers too. 😛

Movies

Tuesday Talkies – ‘Bang Bang’ to Bang on Boring

Image October 7, 2014 jcisnowjs 1 Comment

Bang Bang is one of the big budget movies released recently, which everyone (sort of), was planning to see. Me too. I had few of my own reasons though. Actually only one reason – Hrithik Roshan. Not specifically for his acting skills 😉 In that context I am more than happy to watch Bang Bang. ❤

Bang Bang, a movie by Fox Star Studios is an official remake of ‘Knight and Day‘. It’s better to be termed as official remake than taking inspiration from, right? 😎

This movie is directed by Siddharth Anand, of ‘Salaam Namaste‘ fame. This movie is already declared a hit, even though it just released some 4 days back. Most of the credit for this goes to lead pair of movie – Hrithik Roshan and Katrina kaif. Supporting cat includes Jimmy Shergil, Deeepti Naval, Danny Denzongpa and Kanwaljit Singh etc.

Coming to story of movie, which is actually non existent if you see as a whole, but still, here it goes. An army officer Viren(Jimmy) goes to London to extradite a terrorist organization boss Omar(Danny). Is it that easy to get hold of a terrorist boss? Nope. Atleast not in a Bollywood movie. So, there comes all the chamchas of Boss, special mention, heavily tattooed Jaaved Jaafrey, who not only enter a high security building in London, but also kills all the guard. Danny shoot Jimmy before our deshbhakt hero can even finish his patriotism lecture. Actually, I would have killed him first. It was better to kill him than listen to non stopping “meri aankhon ne darr nahi garv hai”, kind of dialogues. Melodramatic point on its peak – Jimmy’s mother is on phone, and is listening to his boy’s dying moments. 😥

Another part start – Omar wants some Indian to steal Kohinoor from London, so that Britain and India can fight over Kohinoor, while he can rest in peace (literally). Who can do so? Other than our Hero Hrithik Roshan. Before we go there, I would like to mention one dialogue, where Jaaved Jaafrey’s chamcha (yes, even Chamcha’s have chamchas), says, “Who else can steal Kohinoor, other than an Indian?” Why man? Why? Just tell me why? Do we Indians look like international thieves to you? 😐

Bang Bang back – Hrithik stole the Kohinoor for Omar, but refuses to hand it back to his employer. Boss, if you are given a task by your boss you should deliver it to your boss. If you are not, atleast try to be clear on whys? So, we didn’t know at this point that why is he keeping to Kohinoor by himself, even when he stole it for money. Comes our demure Katrina Kaif, who is a bank receptionist. By the way, if we will have such kind of receptionist we can for sure persuade our youngsters to have more savings in bank. 😉

Somehow, both of their lives get intermingled, and our small town bank receptionist is now a partner in crime with an international thief. Sure thing, she enjoys this new adventure in her boring life, along with the Greek god lookalike savior Hrithik Roshan. Puppy love.<3

One thing that disappoint most in the movie is that this does not look like a single movie with a straight story. It looks like we are watching lots of action sequences which are joined together in a documentary kind of fashion. So one time you are running in woods, other second you are marooning on an island. Every possible action stunt in employed in this movie, whether the need be or not. But if you are an action freak, or lover of stunts, than it sure is a treat.

Most beautiful thing about this movie is Hrithik himself, and his shirtless torso, which he has flaunted numerous time in this movie. On beach, in water, in rain, dancing, shooting, every thing that he is doing, he is either in a three piece suit or without any suit, you know 😉 Paisa Vassol.

Katrina’s fans – there is nothing new. It’s same old naive Katrina, who doesn’t even know how to kiss. Can you believe that? Our hero saves her this time too, and gave her a lesson or two in, ‘How to smooch a guy?’, category. I wonder if she knows other stuff or not?? :devil:

Well, I have done postmortem of the movie now, and after hard work I feel hungry. So I am off to eat some non healthy out of my fridge. You can go buy your popcorn and a ticket to watch ‘Bang Bang’. Go enjoy, if not for movie, go to see the perfect chiseled looks and golden curly hairs of Hrithik Roshan.