Australia

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson
Directed by: Baz Luhrmann
Rating 3/5
Date Seen: 22/02/2009
I got 'Australia' from my friends. The movie was an amazing film full with drama, emotion, and epic visuals. Best thing about the movie was the bombing by Japan plane and the bull chase.

Nicole Kidman is very impressive, convincingly tough, emotional, and funny. The crude attack dogs that are out to get Nicole will be sadly disappointed at Kidman’s performance in ‘Australia’. Brandon Walters who played Nullah was clearly the star of the movie, holding the film together with an impressive first performance. Jackman however is perfect for the tough, rugged, but romantic outback Drover. The cynics and the darn right snooty bums of this world need to get over them selves. This film obtains some cliché’s within the dialog and story elements, but I am afraid cliché’s come from somewhere, and 1939 Australia is where they were born . The movie is not subsequence but the action and acting makes it good. Its worth a watch.This is a great film and people need to go out and see it.

Reader

Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz
Director: Stephen Daldry
Rating 3/5
Date Seen: 24/02/2009
After Seeing Kate Winslet win the oscar for best acteress for the movie 'Reader' I wanted to see the movie . And I personally liked it. It is a movie that wants you to take it seriously as a profound discussion about complicity and moral obligation. The source of the movie is a novel by Bernhard Schlick, it was a critical and commercial success. In short, this movie so drips with earnest good intentions that the nobility of the exercise .

The movie plays, like the novel, in three parts. The first takes place in West Germany in the 1950s. A sixteen-year old school boy (an impressive David Kross) has an affair with a woman twenty years his senior.They enjoy each other physically but both are evasive. He tells her what she wants to hear - that he's not a star pupil. She tells him precisely nothing. She asks him to read aloud to her. He clearly enjoys the performance. And then, one day, she vanishes and he is devastated.

The second act takes place in the 1960s. The boy is a law student, and is taught to carefully separate moral responsibility from a narrow definition of legal guilt. He is disgusted to discover that his old lover is on trial for murdering Jews during the Holocaust and that he has evidence that will mitigate her sentence. He has to reconcile the woman he knew with the unfeeling, narrowly obedient and unrepentant woman he sees in court.

The third act takes place in the 1980s. The teenage boy has developed into a fastidious old man with a failed marriage and an estranged daughter. For a complex set of reasons he begins to record audio books and send them to his old lover. Maybe he does this out of misplaced vanity, maybe guilt, maybe nostalgia, maybe boredom, maybe a desire to connect with anyone - Ralph Fiennes' opaque performance gives us no help in making his motives out.
The characters rarely face off. They rarely confront or challenge each other. And because the film never risks disrupting the all-pervasive mood of stately good taste it struggles to shift into second gear. This movie is a good watch though.

Slumdog Millioniare a Oscars

Slumdog Millioniare wins 8 oscars at Golden Globe Awards, I personally congratulate Danny on Such a great award.Here are the sections where Slumdog Millioniare has won.

1.Best Direction: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

2.Best Original Song: A R Rahman and Gulzar for ‘Jai Ho...’ .

3.Best Original Score: A R Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire .

4.Best Film Editing: Chris Dickens for Slumdog Millionaire

5.Best Sound Mixing: Ian Tapp, Resul Pookutty and Richard Pryke for Slumdog Millionaire.

6.Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire

7.Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire.

Delhi 6 Review

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri, Pawan Malhotra, Surpiya Pathak, Sheeba Chaddha, Vijay Raaz, Divya Dutta, Aditi Rao
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Rating 3/5

Date Seen: 22/02/09

Delhi 6’ is a story of love and self discovery set within the walled city of Delhi, which is a microcosm of India with all its chaos and contradictions.Sonam Kapoor as Bittu - Bittu is a vivacious and bubbly girl living in ‘Delhi 6’. She comes from a conservative family and wants to free herself from the typical Indian social structure. Amitabh Bachchan has a cameo appearance too. Abhishek Bachchan as Roshan an NRI from the US. His life is transformed when he comes to Delhi. Waheeda Rahman as Roshan’s grandmother - Ailing in her old age, she wants to spend the remaining days of her life in the city to which she is most attached –Chandni Chowk.But Abhishek doesnot like the place initially Story rotates on a kaala bandar. At first half kaala bandar is used for a laugh and second half kaala bandar is used as serious object, threatening sentiments of community. And ending is unexpected.

Rakeysh disappoints us with this movie. Was not affected of Rakeysh after making movies like Rang de Basanti

Movie Review: Jugaad

Star Cast: Manoj Bajpai, Hrishita Bhatt, Vijay Raaz, Govind Namdeo and Sanjay Mishra; Director: Anand Kumar;

Rating: 2/5

Date Seen: 17/2/09

The film revolves around the infamous sealing issue that had been a hot issue in India’s capital city, Delhi in 2007-08. It tells the story of Sandip Kapur (Manoj Bajpai) who heads an advertising agency. Sandip fails to reinstate his company, despite his attempts and efforts. Eventually, he finds himself alone on the road, along with his team. Now Sandip is desperately wanting to re-establish his agency.

Sandip fails to reinstate his company, despite his attempts and efforts. Eventually, he finds himself alone on the road, along with his team. The movie promises to unfold the real situation that prevailed in Delhi when MCD's sealing drive was underway. 'Jugaad' highlights the unexpected struggle that Sandip faces, while trying to restore his agency from the root, once again. He comes across A Jugaad, a broker. He arranges everything lets see whether whether 'jugaadbaazi' really works for Sandip?

A satirical comedy, 'Jugaad' also shows the never-say-die attitude of the Delhiites. Jugaad is a harmless entertainer and though it may not be another Khosla Ka Ghosla it is one of those rare good satirical comedies made in Bollywood. A good laugh though.

billu barber review

Star Cast: Irrfan Khan, Lara Dutta and Shah Rukh Khan;

Director: Priyadarshan;

Rating: 3.5/5

Date Seen: 14/02/2009

Billu is a story of a down to earth village barber, Billu (Irfaan Khan). A man of principles, he is not willing to give up his values come what may even if it means his children are thrown out of the school or his earnings taking a beating. When the news comes out about Billu’s childhood connection with Sahir Khan, the villagers make a U-Turn in their behaviour towards Billu.

It is Based on Malayalam super hit Katha Parayumbol starring Mammootty. The whole film focuses on Irfan and he gives a fine performance as an unconfident simple and common man . He very well portrays the helplessness of the central character and the trials and tribulations he has to face for the sake of his family’s well being . LaraDutta looked really beautiful as the simple and beautiful village girl. Irfan and Lara looked good on screen and even their kids were great . The kids also acted really well and the entire family looked really good on-screen and looked very much real . Lara’s portrayal of a simple village woman was also really sweet and it was nice to see her in such a role .SRK also gave in a good performance and despite his small role he does good . The songs have no sequence they just pop in the movie.
Don’t go in expecting a full on SRK flick and you won’t come out disappointed. SRK has acted like he is greatest actor in world. Too much style. Billu has a good story to tell and is the kind of a film that brings a tear in your eye and at the same time a little smile on your lips .

BAFTA Nominees and Winners

Best film
* Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader

Adapted screenplay
* Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
The Curious case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth
Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
The Reader - David Hare
Revolutionary Road - Justin Haythe

Cinematography
* Slumdog Millionaire - Anthony Dod Mantle
Changeling - Tom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight - Wally Pfister
The Reader - Chris Menges, Roger Deakins

Sound

* Slumdog Millionaire - Glenn Freemantle, Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke, Tom Sayers, Ian Tapp
Changeling - Walt Martin, Alan Robert Murray, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff
The Dark Knight - Lora Hirschberg, Richard King, Ed Novick, Gary Rizzo
Quantum Of Solace - Eddy Joseph, Chris Munro, Mike Prestwood Smith, Mark Taylor
Wall E - Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Matthew Wood

Music
* Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Alexandre Desplat
The Dark Knight - Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard
Mamma Mia! - Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus
Wall-E - Thomas Newman

Cinematography
* Slumdog Millionaire - Anthony Dod Mantle
Changeling - Tom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight - Wally Pfister
The Reader - Chris Menges, Roger Deakins

Editing
* Slumdog Millionaire - Chris Dickens
Changeling - Joel Cox, Gary D Roach
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
The Dark Knight - Lee Smith
Frost/Nixon - Mike Hill, Dan Hanley
In Bruges - Jon Gregory

Victory review

Cast: Hurman Baweja, Amrita Rao, Anupam Kher, Dalip Tahil, Gulshan Grover
Director: Ajitpal Mangat
Date SEen : 04-02-2009
Rating 3/5
I personally liked the movies as it has to do with cricketer, Vijay ( Hurman) from small-town Rajasthan is so good that he should, by rights, have been in the Indian team. But, and this is a story we know well, he doesn't even get a look-in on the Ranji.
`Victory' is about Vijay's rise-fall-rise, the heady feeling of success, and the downfall.A greedy agent ( Gulshan) gets his claws into the rising star, who slides down the slippery slope of here-now-gone-the-next-instant-fame, forgetting those who kept him grounded, `deshbhakt' dad ( Anupam), and best bud ( Amrita).
A fleet of international cricketers like Harbhajan Singh and Jayasuriya and the dishy Brett Lee have quite a lot of screen time.
`Victory' has all the right intentions, but its execution is bland.The music is good and its worth a watch.

Luck by chance review

Star Cast: Farhan Akhtar(Vikram), Konkona Sen Sharma(Sona), Rishi Kapoor(Rummi), Isha Sharvani(Neena), Dimple Kapadia(Nikki), Hrithik Roshan(Zaffar),Juhi (Minty)and others; Director: Zoya Akhtar;

Rating: 4/5

Date Seen: 02-02-09

After long time have seen a movie like this.Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan) comes down to Bollywood town Mumbai from Delhi to become a star. At Vikam's fellow struggle friend’s house he meets Sona (Konkona) for the first time. Sona too has dreams in her eyes of becoming a lead actress in an A grade film. For the past three years till then she has been living with this hope Taking advantage of her is Chaudhary a small time producer who has been assuring her of that one big break and in return of which he is sexually exploiting her and assigning her B grade.But finally she gets into movie line
Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s music is already climbing the charts and is well mixed in the film’s proceedings. Don’t miss the opening song sequence.
Konkona delivers an award winning performance which comes in your mind for a long time even after the film is over. Farhan is extremely natural in his act and has brilliantly underplayed his part. Rishi Kapoor and Juhi give able support.

Luck By Chance is quality cinema that takes you straight into the heart of the Hindi film industry’s functioning, showing you both the good, the bad and the ugly side of it and yet keeps your love intact for the film industry . Really nice movies, though not good as his first picture. Rock on!

Raaz The Mystery continues

Movie Review: Raaz The Mystery continues

Star Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut and Adhyayan SumanDirector: Mohit Suri;

Rating: 3 - Succeeds in spooking you.

Date Seen: 02-02-2009
Yash (Adhyayan) and Nandita (Kangana) is a couple deeply in love. While Yash is heads a successful reality show on TV called Andhavishwas which exposes superstitious beliefs in India, Nandita is a successful model. One evening Nandita realizes that a stranger (Emraan) is following her. The stranger then manages to encounter her in her building lift. He introduces himself as Prithvi and shows her the paintings he has drawn of her. What has him intrigued is that though he had never seen her before, he has drawn her many portraits including one which shows her lying in a pool of blood. He tries to caution her about something evil about to happen to her soon but she ignores him. But from then on, strange things start happening her as if she has been possessed by an evil spirit. What twists and turns follow next form the rest of the film.
Full marks to Mohit Suri for making that one kick-ass horror thriller which can easily put on par with Hollywood’s best in terms of plot, setting, technique and acting. Though the initial few minutes appear dragging with a slow pace, the film takes your grip, once Kangana gets possessed. There are sufficient twists and turns plotted at just the right juncture to give you shocks. The suspense too is well maintained right till the climax. Generally Bollywood horror films tend to have lengthy and at times unconvincing flashbacks to support the happenings but thankfully in here the flashback is not only slickly shot but is also right in length and very convincing. The camerawork by Ravi Walia deserves special mention especially for night shots which are aplenty in the film. He has succeeded in creating the right eerie atmosphere. The song are well placed too and thankfully few.
Mohit has gone right in the casting as well. Emraan is just perfect for the part and his expressions speak a lot. It is not the same Emraan you have been seeing till now. Kangana enacts her part well and succeeds in getting your sympathy. Adhyayan shows remarkable improvement as an actor from his debut film.
The film is a definite must watch, it delivers more than it promises. Not only it is way far better than the first Raaz, it is that one good horror film, that Hindi horror film fans have been deprived for a long time now since Bhoot. Go for it and be prepared to be spooked.