Bol Bachchan (Hindi)

For the longest time I have been a huge supporter of Abhishek Bachchan's acting. While most people had given up on him after his first few movies, I actually thought he could carry certain roles really well, especially the ones in multi-starers. For the first time ever did I find him lacking real acting talent as I watched him play the role of Abbas Ali/Abhiskek Bachchan in Bol Bachchan. It might have been the film, or that he was surrounded by actors like Archana Puran Singh and Krishna Abhishek who pretty much duplicated their childish acts that can be seen on those comedy stage shows that run all the time on TV, but Abhishek Bachchan could be seen finding it hard to produce good comedy. What is truly ironical is that during the end credits there is a brief moment when Abhishek talks to the director Rohit Shetty and says "I told you I was made for this role"... I strongly disagree.

Bol Bachchan is a rather poor copy of the classic Hrishikesh Mukherjee film Gol Maal. What Rohit Shetty has done is tried to add his trademark Golmaal-ism to the film in the hope that he would end up with a winner. Unfortunately, that is not the case. For those of you who are confused, as are most of the characters in the film Bol Bachchan, Rohit Shetty has the GolMaal series (nothing to do with the classic film except for the name) to his credit and it can be considered his claim to fame.

Now that I have the school-play acting rant out of my system we can move to the numerous unnecessary subplots and characters that bring absolutely nothing to the story of the film. The comedy is so crass that I often wonder who is it that the film is targeted to. Okay, I do admit there were a couple of instances, in a movie that ran for two hours, where I did laugh out loud, but then again I never said my comic sense is all that great.

The supporting cast does exactly that, try and support a film that is weak from the get go. Ajay Devgan might change his name to Ajay Devgn and also call his production house Devgn FFilms, but it's high time everyone realizes that it takes a lot more than playing with letters to actually succeed. His role is similar to what he has been doing lately, i.e. tough guy who can beat an army of men with one punch. Abhishek Bachchan, thanks to his gay act in Dostana, seems to have found a character that everyone making the film thought was worth repeating, but once again his comic timing is simply atrocious. Asin and Preeti Desai are there to be the damsels in distress and give the two heroes an excuse to showcase their emotional venerability.

As for the direction, it is very Rohit Shetty like. I actually have no problem with the kind of slow-motion fight sequences he usually directs and thankfully they are just about the right amount of fight sequences in the film. The songs seem to be popular right now on radio, but I do not think they are memorable.  

Bol Bachchan was one of the biggest disappointments of 2012. It lacks originality or even class. What it worse is that with Bachchan being in the name of the film Abhishek should have stood out, but the film for me is his worst performance till date.

2/5 Rating.

  

Players (Hindi)

It's about time film makers in India realized that just by shooting a movie in foreign locals doesn't mean that the audience will look over the remainder of the film. It's quite apparent that the director-duo of Players found this out the hard way.

Players is the official remake of the immensely popular film, The Italian Job. I say "official" because apparently rights were legally taken to remake the film and it was not made with the "inspired from" tag. Unfortunately, even after having two predecessors to legally take inspiration from, the film simply falls flat on its face.

Now, in all honesty I have to give credit to Abbas-Mustan for trying real hard to spice up the original story by adding a few extra characters and also by including a few twists of their own. Unfortunately, poor acting, a rather dull and over-emotional love angle, and unpopular songs makes the entire film a tedious affair.

In a nutshell Players is a heist movie. Whereas in the original the Mini Coopers were the real "stars" of the film, but in this two and half hour excruciating remake the Mini Cooper only makes an appearance during the last 30 minutes, albeit a small one. Abhishek Bachchan for once doesn't impress much as a savvy con-artist with a heart of gold. Sonam Kapoor I really want to like, but she fails to make most of this opportunity. Bipasha Basu performs a role similar to many she has done before (think Race which happened to be by the same Director-Duo), which can also be said for Omi Vaidya who is soon to run out of acting gigs unless he learns to speak proper Hindi or refuse the roles where is he required to speak in the same way as he did in 3 Idiots. Neil Nitin Mukesh sparks a little light of hope in the film as a computer nerd and hacker, but unfortunately the extremely poor performance of Bobby Deol overshadows any good performance that might be there in the film.

On a side note, is it me of it seems that extensive and I'm guessing expensive train robbery scenes in an Indian film is a bad omen for its box office, leaving aside Sholay obviously. Don't we all remember Roop Ki Rani Chooron Ka Raja? It had one of the most exciting train robbery sequences which is half heartedly repeated in Players with a lot more special effects and to a much dismal conclusion.

I am never this harsh, but if I were to describe Players in once sentence it would be like this;

Players, watch it when you have severe constipation because it's a time you are so desperate that any form of crap will do.

Rating 1.5/5
      

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010) (Hindi)

It seems lately I have been only watching movies with Abhishek Bachchan in them. It is not a conscious decision, but then again I’m not complaining since I have said it time and again that he remains one of the most underrated actors in the Indian Film Industry.

Ashutosh Gowarikar's Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is a lesson in history, and that too quite a good one. What works for the film is that it is stays true to its roots and isn't stylized or sensationalized. There is one and only one star in the film and that is the story. It's quite clear that a considerable amount of research went into the making of the film. Based on the Chittagong uprising of 1930 the film tracks the lives of a number of individuals as they plan and execute an attack again the oppressive British in their eastern Indian town of Chittagong. The featured rebellion has a special part in India's freedom struggle because this time children as young as 14 years and women were also part of this attack. Looking at the real life photographs of the prominent characters featured in the film during the end credits did make me realize the importance of freedom that we take for granted and too an extent the fight against corruption going on in India right now.

Ashutosh Gowarikar has proved with Jodha Akhbar and Laagan that he can handle period films quite well. There is detail and importance given to the sets and the clothing to make the environment and feel of the movie genuine.

Considering the number of characters and the fast moving story there really isn't time enough to evaluate the acting. Abhishek Bachchan playing the leader and school teacher Surjya Sen along with Deepika Padukone's Kalpana Dutta has a certain underrated elegance throughout the film. Everyone does a decent job and brings out authenticity to their respective characters. The junior artists brilliantly bring about the innocence in their characters that also covers up the sketchy acting at times. Amongst the seniors notably the physical transformation in Sikander Kher is commendable. The movie not only has prominence as a historical event, but even works as a thriller, almost to an extent like Munich wherein the happenings before and after the actual event are equally important.

I highly recommend the movie to everyone who is in any way linked to India just to appreciate the freedom that we all enjoy. For everyone else, it is a well made movie and works for anyone interested in historical events. 4/5 Stars for this patriotic piece of cinema.   

Raavan (2011) (Hindi)

Raavan had so much going for it. Mani Ratnam as the director is one of the premier directors of Indian cinema. India’s "IT" couple Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan play prominent roles in the film. Then there is the concept of giving Ramayana a modern twist. Everything was simply perfect. Unfortunately as we have seen before, a good story or cast/director doesn't necessarily make a good film.

Raavan fails at a number of levels. The "special effects" or "stunts" don't run seamlessly. There is especially a scene where Ragini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) falls of a cliff. This scene comes across as so fake that even a three year old could tell by looking at the odd angle she is falling that she is on a harness. Obviously, I do not expect her to jump in real, but then why repeatedly show a scene that clearly hinders the look of the film?

Abhishek Bachchan is someone who is grossly underrated in Indian cinema. Maybe it's due to comparisons with his father Amitabh Bachchan, but he has certainly made a mark in films. The problem is that although, like his father, in most movies he plays the stylish angry young man quite well, he clearly found it difficult to play the evil side of his character Beera. Beera (which is also a reference to Raavan) should have been larger than life, but his character's little antics were simply distracting and seem forced.

The concept of the film was brilliant. I've always enjoyed when hugely popular stories from the past are revamped into something to suit the present times. Rehashing the Ramayana guaranteed a great story, but the film relies heavily on people's knowledge of Ramayana. At times the movie felt disjointed and someone unaware of the intricacies of Ramayana would miss out on the film.

On the positive side, Govinda playing Saanjeevini was a pleasant surprise and a welcome change. Vikram playing the police officer Pratap Sharma, in search of his kidnapped wife Ragini, did a good job as well. Another factor working for Raavan is that it is shot beautifully and that helps distract the audience from the poor performances at times. 

This brings me to another important point. Raavana was filmed in two languages simultaneously with some different characters. Interestingly Vikram who was the police officer in the Hindi version played the evil/anti-hero character of Veeraiya (Same as Beera) in the Tamil version. Although it is commendable that the team achieved this, I feel that maybe this led to the Hindi version being subpar. I must confess I have not seen the Tamil version, so I cannot comment on it.

Raavan was what we commonly say in India a "one time watch". It had tremendous potential but fails to cash in on it and that for me was the biggest disappointment. A somewhat generous 2 out of 5 star rating.