3 Idiots - Message Loud and Clear (3/5)

Although Chetan Bhagat is credited for the inspiration from his bestseller "Five Point Someone", "3 Idiots" is a far cry from the original novel and can never be compared. So the notion of "Not up to the book" never fits in here.

The movie start's, breath's, eats, sleep's and end's with Ammir Khan. Although he forms the backbone of the movie, he is very well supported by a formidable team of artists such as characters played by R.Madhavan, Sharman Joshi ,Bomman Irani and the guy who played Chatur Ramalingam.

The movie is not an exceptional one. Not even close. 15 minutes into the movie, you might get a feeling that this could be a substitute to "Munnabhai" franchise from the same Writer-Director. Within another 10 odd minutes, they throw the message of the movie right at your face and you are in to receive it within every 15 minutes from here onwards till end. If you missed it first? Don't worry. Missed it second time? Relax. Missed it third time? Patience friend. You're going to get it eventually. 3 Idiots cant be more loud with their message getting shouted at every possible character at every possible moment. If they'd been subtle about it, the movie would've been on a totally different level. The film takes a backseat when it comes to pace in the second half shuttling between flashbacks and seems more like a time travel shuttling between locations. One of the most thrilling scenes of the movie is one of its most ridiculous one. Imagine a baby is being sucked out with a vacuum cleaner on to a ping pong table. The down to earth chracters suddenly turns out to be super humans.For god's sake somebody tell'em, they're mere engineers. The character played by Bomman Irani very much resembles the characters from "Munnabhai" franchise. The interview scene of Sharman Joshi in the climax was a complete disappointment from the writers as you would know the reason if you'd attended atleast an interview in your life. Even character names like Virus, Millimeter etc in the film resembles the previous work of Rajkumar Hirani. The movie progresses through set pieces that after few jokes, they use poignant grief fillers which makes your emotion seem to be remote contolled.

The movie at first may seem quite predictable at few scenes, but the writers have worked smart that every time you arrive at one of those cliche scenes, you are in for a new twist or surprise.Good acting from the lead characters and especially from Aamir Khan is one of the USP's of the film. He has proved himself as a perfectionist yet again. Watch him out in the scene in which Bomman Irani drags him into a class room to make him give lecture to the whole class. The body language of Aamir in that scene is so perfect that you will be convinced that his character is only 20 something year old college goer. Its these small nuances of his acting that elevates the experience of this movie. Its these gems that makes you not to take your eyes of when he's on screen.

As you can already figure out from my review that it has got a mix of both the worlds, there's no doubt that it can suck you into the drama from the word go. 3 Idiots is soo very well packed with the "feel good" factor which is very well complememnted by the likeability of Aamir Khans character as the iceing on the cake. In the end, 3 Idiots is unquestionabally a good watch and wooes its audience with all confidence, drama and gags. As for every Aamir Khan movie, my expectations were high and it fell a bit short. The film has its heart and soul at right place. But the brains working on a totally diffrent level.

Avatar - An year to remember in the history of Cinema (4/5)

If 2009 was to be remembered in the history of cinema, It would inscribe the name "AVATAR" in bold - The next generation of cinema has kicked off.

What is that makes AVATAR the movie of the decade? Is it the story? Is it the cutting edge technology that's gone into it? Is it because it's a James Cameron movie? To answer that, I will have to remind you of those days when your father took you to watch "Jurrasik Park" or "Terminator" and the feeling that went through your head before watching the movie, while watching the movie and after watching the movie. Yes, my friend. Those nostalgic feelings are back and thats exactly my point is. It's the whole experience of transporting the viewer to a totally new world of fiction in a very convincing way that makes movies like these a celebration in itself. Of course it is from the legendary father of sci-fi films James Cameron. If it was not by him, not many can pull a movie of this magnitude.

This movie is one of the most expensive movies ever made and this comes as no surprise though. When he made "Terminator 2" and "Titanic", it was the most expensive films back then. He is so much used to that when he says I want to make a movie about some aliens living on the surface of sun and i need $5000 million, People believe him. How many film directors can shoulder such massive responsibility? He awaited almost a decade for the technology to catch up and then he pushed the technology by another 10 years with his hard work so that he can make his strokes broad enough to create a whole new world on celluloid. He called it "Pandora". That my friend, is an extraordinary way of film making.

Motion sensors, virtual cameras ,sound stages, you name it, James used everything that's available to a film maker to pull this opus convincingly and trust me, you will feel for those characters despite knowing they are mere digital drawings. Am sure he might've felt like God, if not at least near to Him, for the only reason the almighty being a better craftsman and James is the closest human being so far.

Watch it in 3D IMAX with your family. This is the 160 odd minutes worth every penny for its shear reason of its experience. It is for films like these, those big silver screens are made. Its films like these remind you how much fun you can have watching a cinema. Its films like these which can bring out the kid in you. Watch it for the hard work, will power, dedication and most of all the love for the craft of the visionary behind those spectacular postcards that make you feel you were there every minute.

Am going with 4 out of 5. James, am taking that 1 point just to make sure that Steven, George and Peter doesn't feel like end of the world. (As if they care about my rating)

2012 - An insanely cinematic entertainment(2/5)

You think you've seen end of the world movies before? Well, this one ends the world, churns it up and rips it apart.

Why am i writing a review for this movie? Am not sure about that but am sure that most of us go watch this movie for its insanely spectacular pleasure and not based on a review. What am i going to write about this movie? Am not sure about that too.

Its a Roland Emmerich film, the king of disaster movies (Independence day, Godzilla, The day after tomorrow, 10,000 BC - his last film in itself being a disaster) its about doomsday, its got "never seen before kind of CGI", Its big budget, Its got hell lot of things blown up on screen. Comon, how many more reason do you need to watch a movie of this scale?

Just like the list of reasons to watch this movie, i could easily come up with a list of reasons to hate this movie. Its cliche to most parts. A few HD camera shots took away the drama element from the CGI. No empathy for the characters. No real way to convey hope (for those who love happy endings). Drama is a bore. There were more than couple of instances at which the protagonist's air plane was airborne while the runway was falling apart. 3 times is a charm if you are giving your graduation supplementary exams. Not cool. But, Who cares?

Its been long since I watched a movie pretentiously and 2012 gave me one helluva ride. You might come out of it criticizing every bit, but if it was not for this pleasure, we could've watched "Life is Beautiful". Ain't it?

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani - Juvenile; a few jokes apart (1/5)

Yesterday when I decided to watch a movie, I’d four choices. Jail, Ajab Prem ki gazab kahani, Rebound and the Informant. On a normal day, I would’ve chosen between jail and informant. But I was feeling lucky and left out Steven Soderbergh and Madhur Bhandarkar behind, I went ahead with APKGK.

APKGK is an over told fairy tale love story where they belt out a bunch of juvenile humour and sentiment except for a couple of occasions, leaving the audience behind to catch up with them or leave it behind. The director seems to be in a hurry to say so many things at one go, that right from the opening scene, he fails to engage the audience. Ranbir’s opening scene, which is supposed to be funny, is one that you would’ve seen all through Indian cinema from late sixties onwards. Not Funny anymore.

The protagonist is a 9th grade dropout who has no other better job, but running a happy club. He falls in love with an orphan girl, jenny who already has a boy friend and now our protagonist, Mr. Prem have to help them unite. The story revolves around Prem and jenny and their friends and family until the last 30 odd minutes (remember the movie is around 3 hrs of running time) you’ll find new characters getting introduced like the politician (jenny’s boyfriends father) and a not-so-funny gangster who’s after the politician for money i don’t know why?

The script lacks in continuity and empathising for its characters. The story is over told, and drags at most of its part. The songs are shot bad except for one. The second half is frustratingly slow paced which takes you to another frustratingly choreographed fight. As a result of trying too hard with the script, the movie in most parts lacks any integrity.

Being said all this; there are still a handful of things to be looked out for. A selected couple of jokes, a decent performance by Ranbir and Katrina, a few good locations and few scenes which are genuine and worth a watch.

Watch out for that scene in which Prem's mother trying to seduce and distract his dad so that jenny can come out of bathroom without being noticed. But all this will take only 30 minutes out of this movie which is otherwise an agonising bore to watch.

APKGK was a bad idea for me. Am going with 1 out of 5.

Quantum of Solace - A descent thriller; nothing more (2/5)

The gadgets, the wits, the charm, the out of this world kind of villains, the babes and his stylish designer suits and blazer’s, that’s what makes a bond movie. Bond movies have always been a visual treat. One can keep their brain at home and go for a Bond movie and still come out satisfied. But you’re going to get completely disappointed if you expect to watch the kind of Bond that Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore or Sean Connery carried off. This is not your piece of cake. This is Bond. The new age James Bond.

He doesn’t have his usual gadgets, the machine gun equipped BMW’s, neither is he chasing a larger than life villain nor is he charming with the babes. Then what do they have this time??? He is for sure a maverick with more flesh and blood. More aggressive and is definitely, driven by revenge. This time, he takes his mission a bit personal.

“Quantum of Solace” kicks off right from where its prequel “Casino Royale” left. Bond is on his quest to avenge for the death of Vesper – his love interest in “Casino Royale”.
The script is bit of intricate to figure out right away where as “Casino Royale “was pretty straight forward.

The stunts are convincing and one can see the kind of effort that’s been put into each of these stunt scenes right away. Although my friends were pretty okay with the camera being a little too shaky at the action, But I had to say that as a result of Marc Forster (“Finding Neverland”,”The Kite Runner”) trying to add drama into the action scenes and follows the scenes tightly with the camera, it’s possible for you to get motion sickness a little too early.

The villain is unfortunately less interesting compared to other Bond franchises. He seems to be more down to earth without those over the sky laser firing satellite or a stealth submarine. The fist fights seem to be more realistic and hard, shedding more blood. Though all this adds to the reality quotient of the movie, the traditional trademark James Bond is completely submerged somewhere down under.

To conclude, let me tell you the fact. “Quantum of Solace” is a descent thriller. Do not expect the cliché Bond that you and I grow up watching, and the chances are that you will be contented with what they remind you once a while that you are still watching a James Bond movie. Now, the whole idea may seem ridiculous, but unlike the other bond films the hard edged story telling works fine here. Although the script is not as interesting as “Casino Royale”, “Quantum of Solace” can keep you glued. There is so much happening at any given time.

Fashion - All girls, less fashion (2/5)

The whole movie is claimed to be set in the backdrop of the fashion industry. It’s realistic. It’s glamorous. And it has got whatever you expect to be out there. But all with a pinch of the famous “Indian spicy masala”. Mathur seems to be still sticking to his old and over told formula. The extra-marital affairs, the gay stories, the politics, the night stands, Boy, how many movies and articles have been made and written over these subjects??? Yes, add one more to that list.

The story teller takes you through the personal life of characters more than their professional life that 30 minutes into the movie, you know that this is not about fashion but about a bunch of characters and their change over the course of chasing their dreams, set in the “masala filled” backdrop of modeling and fashion industry.

The characters seem to have been inspired from real life. If you can remember the last time you read about an indian super model being addicted to drugs and then being into a rehab and then again going back to the same dark world and getting killed with the overdose of same drug, you will be enlightened that the director is trying to give the wrong impression that every supermodel smokes, boozes, makes night stands and consumes drugs and will end up in rehab and goes through the same track. If he was trying to portray the story of a model, who went through all these, it would’ve been more convincing. Rather the director is trying to tell the story of wannabe models, models, supermodels and what not, and gives out the wrong impression that every aspiring models and super models have to go through all this.

This is no longer being bold way of telling story. This is masala now.

The director even fails to completely reveal certain characters like the one that’s played by Mugdha Godse and Raj Babbar. Although Mugdha has done a good job, questions like why her character did certain things will remain un-answered and the character played by Raj Babbar is neither well written nor convincing. A slight waste of talent and a point to improve on. Priyanka Chopra is at her best. After a row of flops, she has a sigh of relief. Although Kangana’s character is a blend of the ones she played in “Gangster “and “Life in a Metro” she has pulled her role convincingly with ease. Practice makes a man perfect.

Now, when you hear the name of the movie and the director, you very well know what to expect. And it does meet your expectation. But here’s a tip, watch FTV for an hour before you go watch the movie. Add the Madhur masala to what you’ve seen some time back and you get a bollywood flick - Fashion.

Let me tell you the final word, Fashion is not a bad movie. And yes, it’s definitely above average. But the problem is,most of the time, there's nothing new that the director is trying to tell us apart from what we expect.

There are some really good music by Salim-Sulaiman and decent cinematography by Mahesh Limaye which really helps the director pull off the story with panache. It’s worth a watch if you are not tired of watching the kind of movies like “Page3”, “Life in a Metro(Anurag Basu)”, and “Corporate”. This is yet another into that list. And for parents who are apprehensive about letting their kids to this industry, please, this is no movie to bias your opinion on.

Being said all this; the movie is engaging. Garnish it over a bucket of pop-corn and as one of the dialogues in the movie goes this way - "jitna kum sochogi utna zyada kamaogi" so does this. Don’t think. The less you think, the more you can enjoy this movie.