Alice in wonderland

When I was a kid I had read Alice in wonderland. When this movie released in India, really wanted to watch it how Tim Burton gets the book in a movie. The film is a thriller and you get good enough shares of chills especially with the 3D effects but story wise the film falls flat. Only good thing about the movie was Johnny Depp acting. 

The problem is that, even if populated by non-conventional characters, his story is very conventional in the end, until the third act super classic in structure, low in the implementation and inappropriate for the environment


Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter
Director: Tim Burton

Final Verdict! Watch it only for 3D affects.

Do add in your opinion.

Hum Tum aur Ghost

Director: Kabeer Kaushik
Lead Cast: Arshad Warsi, Dia Mirza, Boman Irani
Supporting Cast: Sandhya Mridul, Zehra Jane Naqvi
Story: Soumik Sen, Arshad Sayed, Arshad Warsi
Dir. of Photography: Ashok Mehta
Music Director: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonca
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
There’s a lot of confusion - in the story and in the execution. As is true of many stories that deal with paranormal and mental health, Hum Tum Aur Ghost too, shuttles between the two. Some take sides, some argue it out like a drawing room conversation. Here they don’t do either very intentionally. Which is refreshing but in turn they don’t get the audience involved in the story either.
Unfortunately this is despite trying really hard. Really hard to create sweet moments between Arman and Gehna (Arshad Warsi and Dia Mirza) and friendships between Arman and Mini (Sandhya Mridul) or Arman and Mr. Kapoor (Boman Irani) ; really hard to create comic drama around the mystery surrounding Arman’s “condition”; really hard to make the subject and story interesting.
I felt like a pendulum that sways from subtle comedy to serious drama. And the shifts are pretty abrupt. As abrupt as some of the scenes are stuck together – literally looks like the film was randomly chopped and glued together. It was extremely disorienting.
The entire cast looks like they have made a good-faith attempt at getting into character. You see romance and sweet nothings being exchanged. They should have brought that “aawwww” moments, but no such luck. The emotions look way to superficial.
The saving grace though is that some of the comic lines are as subtly slid in as they are funny - very. But they are also very few and quite far between. And the sudden tone shift between funny and display of emotions doesn’t help either.

De Dhana Dhan

De Dhana Dhan is a good comedy with many actors. Akshay has done a good role. Priyadarshan did very well in Hera Pheri, even Malamal Weekly, but this is the pits.He has to go back to the drawing board and come up with a funny movie. I wanted to watch a movie that made me laugh instead I got a movie, that was visually appealing due to the lovely views of Singapore, the well-choreographed songs and the laughter.

Kurbaan

Dharma Productions are back to hog limelight with their latest release Kurbaan which hit the theatres on 22nd November 2009.Producer Karan Johar has attempted to shift his stream and explore more than just his romantic flicks. Rensil D’Silva ,debutant director of the film Rang De Basanti has yet again proved himself.

The story evolves around 9/11 terrorist attacks. Avantika Ahuja (Kareena Kapoor) a professor in a university in Delhi meets Ehsaan Khan (Saif Ali Khan) a young handsome professor at the same campus.Cupid strikes the two and love blossoms.Without wasting much time Ehsaan wins his lady’s heart.
But then the twist begins to unfold.Avantika who earlier used to teach in a college in New York had actually come down to be by her father’s side who suffered cardiac arrest.Avantika now has to get back to the same university as she gets a call from them.
Ehsaan agrees to ask her hand to her father and with all permissions joins her off the coast.The deeply in love couple start settling in the suburbs and find a new house surrounded by muslim neighbourhood.
The story takes a new turn when a lot of suspicious things start to revolve around Avantika when her neighbour Salma who she met at her nighbour’s house the previous night for dinner sneeks in Avantika’s house and tells her about her life in danger.
Avantika grows suspicious when she discovers Salma’s husband beating her outside the house one night.Curious Avantika enters Salma’s house anothernight to discover her dead and the neighbourhood men plotting an attack in New York . Avantika runs for life but gets caught when she realizes the man behind the plot is none other than her husband.
Enter Vivek Oberoi (Riyaaz) a reporter for news channel who discovers his fiancé Diya Mirza’s death is none other than Saif and group. Riyaaz portrays the other side of Muslim and Islamic religion.
What lies next is better to be watched.The Chemistry between Saif and Kareena is simply amazing.Saif has done complete justice to his role and bebo to has grown into a serious actor. Kareena’s bare back scene has already made waves. Vivek Oberoi who is a reporter for a news channel has some good acting skills to show up. Om Puri and Kiron Kher like always are evergreen.
Music is soothng and touchy. Shukraanallah and Maula Ali are already hit.
You definitely dont need popcorn to take to your seats to watch this film. This film has lots to offer you.

Tum Mile

After Jannat debut director Kunal Deshmukh's is back to limelight with his romantic love story Tum Mile starring Emran Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan.
The story revolves around the floods that hit city of Mumbai on 26ht July 2005.
Caught amidst this natural calamity is an estranged couple who once were in beautiful relationship 6 years back until they meet now.
Emraan an aspiring but struggling artist falls in love with Soha a rich and beautiful writer for a youth magazine.
Under Odd Circumstances the two decide to put their career ahead their love and decide to end their relation.
Soha’s loneliness and crave for love and care is very beautifully portrayed.
How two peoples ego and silence if not let go on time could grave love forever can also be seen.
Although I must say the flood discussion in at the height of climax fades away at the backdrop and the story ends.
Cinematography is great especially South Africa is beautifully shot.
Music by Preetam specially. tum mile and tu hi haqeeqat are beautifully soothing and peaceful numbers.
Emran Hashmi at his best like always. Soha Also has done justice to her character and looks beautiful.
I would rate it 2.5 and would say can be watched once.

Chintu Ji

Date Seen: 16/10/09
Rating 2.5/5
Chintuji is about a village Hadbahedi, where the residents are extremely nice and uncorrupted. The people are in need of a popular face, to spread the values of the village, across India. When they discover that the village is Rishi Kapoor's birth place, they send him an invite. Rishi (also known as Chintu in real life) accepts the invitation and decides to fight the election for the people. While the villagers do everything they possibly can, to please the superstar, he is lured by the rival village with a tempting offer.While the movie is slow paced and some of the sequences unnecessary, Chintuji works at most times. The movie reminds you of those innumerable serials on television in the 80s and early 90s. A touch of emotions in a light hearted fun film, is quite enjoyable.

Download via torrents d

Wanted

Wanted
Starring: salman and Ayesha
Date seen: 17/10/09
Rating: 2/5
Synopsis:
"Wanted" is an old-fashioned bone-cruncher with guns and goons creating a kind of orchestrated anarchy that was done with far more elan in "Ghajini".In "Wanted", the violence is far cruder and guttural. The hero is on a sort of society-cleansing spree where the mode of conduct adopted by the villains and heroes become the same

Downlaod Here

PERFECT MISMATCH

Cast
Anubhav Anand - Aman
Nandana Sen- Neha
Anupam Kher- Mr. Bhalla
Boman Irani- Mr. Patel
PERFECT MISMATCH, honestly, is a complete mismatch. The story is just not convincing and what makes matters worse is the fact that the lovers don't do a thing to bring the two warring papas together. Frankly, this one's an amateurish attempt.

Baring a few individualistic sequences, nothing works in PERFECT MISMATCH. The differences between the two fathers(Booman Irani And anupam kher) are too trivial and flimsy. The lovers (aman and neha)realise that their respective fathers don't see eye to eye, but they don't do a thing to iron out their differences.

At the end both father realizes thier love is great in front of thier differences and they patch up. What a waste. The movie is seriously a mismatch.

Sankat City

Star cast: Kay Kay Menon, Rimi Sen, Anupam Kher, Chunky Pandey; Director: Pankaj Advani

Sankat City starring Anupham Kher is a good watch. Its action + drama + comedy.Kay Kay is simply superb while Rimi gives her best performance till date. Her constant Bengali banter is cute. Anupam Kher is top class. Chunky Pandey in a double role is hilariously good.

New York Hindi Review

New York is a good movie, a combination of fun,emotions and action. Worth seeing. More details I will write soon.

Kal kisne dekha review

The movie is very silly and both the new actors suck big time. Alas, the closest debutants Jaccky Bhagnani and Vaishali Desai come to a kiss is a coquettish collision on the college campus where our simple, robust, prankster hero from Chandigarh, with a few vital tips from his Bebe back home

99

Rating 3/5
Date Seen: 12/05/2009
Directed : Raj Nidimoru & Krishna DK
99 is not emphasized on the burglary, rather it is taking up more intersting storylines including Gamble and Match Fixing. And that too, in rather funny way. The story is about Sachin [kunal Khemu] and Zaramud (!!!) [cyrus broacha] - two dropout techies, making their living by 'mis'using technology back in days of Y2K !! Somehow they get stuck at AGM's [Mahesh Manjrekar]- place and both 'has' to do stuff [money recovery] they don't like. On this way, they got to meet Rahul [Boman Irani] who also has stuck in net of AGM. And hilarious roundup of fate and luck starts from here. The movie is set in year 1999-2000. When the technology was about to get a kick start. The 'super fast' 56 kbps cybercafes were rage [yes, it IS in the movie] and the mobiles !!! Aah, the 5510, 3310 & 3315 !! Their Musical tones. And this era is brilliantly created by the guys [Rajeev Ravi] in the movie. Even in the first scene itself, an Aamir Khan poster shows up in faded light. [Now if you have seen the movie, tell me what movie it was??] And in another scene, we see 'Raju Chacha-the most expensive movie ever' Poster. Loved this small small details taken care off. [Art direction: Pradip Redij] Most fabulous was the Mobiles. At many parts, mobile phones and talks about it, got me stomach-ache. So funny each situation is shaped around. And quirky one liners about them. Dialogues are also fabulous as the screenplay is. Absolutely fresh and clever one liners I could find here. Sample this, 'If she is Neha, then you must be Pooja, right??' [cause, in Delhi, every girl is named either Neha or Pooja :D] And its no surprise, that all dialogues are CLEAN. cause its written by a girl: Sita Menon. And thats what I loved more. Cause I was feared that the movie can go so much the 'vulgar comedy' way, given the storyline, but kudos to the team, this one is so clean and family comedy.

All in all, this is a movie, you can not miss at any cost. A perfect movie for vacation, to go with friends. And kool off in the hot summer.

Firaaq

Date Seen: 13/04/2009
Rating 3.5/5

Shocking, disturbing and thought-provoking, Nandita Das’s movie Firaaq touches a raw nerve. Admittedly a work of fiction claimed to be inspired from thousands of true stories, ‘Firaaq’ (meaning quest, or separation) mirrors the gruesome reality of the Gujarat riots in which many Muslims and Hindus were slaughtered. ‘Firaaq’ provides us a peek into the after effects of the riots by taking us into the minds of the characters that populate its parallel stories. The gravity of the subject is established in the opening reel when a truckload of dead bodies are dumped into a mass grave. A homeless boy Mohsin wanders the streets in search of his Abu. A middle-class housewife Aarti ( Deepti Naval ) battles her guilt of having shut the door on a desperate Muslim woman pleading for life. A Muslim-Hindu couple, Sameer and Anu, ( Sanjay Suri and Tisca Chopra ) grapple with the altered reality of their surroundings and plan to leave the city. A group of Muslim men gang up to take revenge. An ageing musician Khan Saheb ( Naseeruddin Shah ) is unable to comprehend the senseless violence and massacre. Two sahelis, Munira and Jyoti ( Shahana Goswami and Amruta Subhash) manage to stick together in the environment of communal hate and suspicion. With calculated restraint, sensitivity and subtlety, ‘Firaaq’ tells the story of these characters in a bid to rattle the conscience of the viewers and make them realize the horrendous crimes that took place in the Gujarat of 2002. However, it needs to be said that some might find the film one-sided because it repeatedly portrays the victimization of Muslims – be it a cop telling a Sameer Shaikh (Sanjay Suri) to buzz off to Pakistan, or a local resident dropping a heavy stone slab on a man’s head just because he is a Muslim. But all in all, Nandita Das does a fairly decent job of telling a multi-layered story with seamless clarity. The performances are top notch, particularly by Deepti Naval, Shahana Goswami, Naseeruddin Shah and Paresh Rawal , who plays a middle-class, anti-Muslim Gujarati trying to cover up the rape committed by his young brother. Looking beyond the film’s theme, ‘Firaaq’ is a cinematic gem with excellent cinematography (Ravi Chandran), well-penned screenplay (Nandita and Shuchi Kothari) and evocative background score. Despite its somewhat narrow perspective, it’s a film made with conscience and noble intention, as reflected in a scene in which Raghuvir Yadav (a domestic help) tells Naseer that Muslims are being killed. Naseer replies: “Insaan Insaan ko maar raha hai, gham toh iss baat ka hai. A statement that entreats us to see humans beyond their religions, it pretty much encapsulates the soul of ‘Firaaq’. Definitely worth a watch.

The Stoneman Murder

Director: Manish Gupta

Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Arbaaz Khan, Vikram Gokhale

Rating: 3/5

Date Seen: 14th March

I saw the movie yesterday.The movie is a mix of real life take on the serial killings of 1983 with a touch of fiction added by the writers giving it a more sensational feel. It talks about the horrifying terror on the streets, spread by a brutal killer who used to kill the poor people sleeping on the roadside by crushing their head with a stone, therefore named as Stoneman Murderer. And both the director and the writers come up with a brilliant portrayal of this real life case on the silver screen.
The main merit of the movie is that it straight away starts off with the main topic and sticks to its till the end. There are no deliberately added sub plots, songs or any comic scenes which make it more harsh, bold and impressive. The whole narration revolves around Kay Kay Menon, who is a suspended Police Inspector paying the price for his anger practiced in an interrogation. After his deferral, he is still investigating the Stoneman Case, privately on the instructions of his senior, Vikram Gokhale and also gets assistance by a Hawaldaar played by Virendra Saxena. His colleague inspector, Arbaaz Khan, who is more of an enemy, is also working on the same case creating troubles for KK. The movie is really nice and worth a watch

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.

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 .

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.