Special Chabbis (2013)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Biography/Comedy

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Kajal Aggarwal, Rajesh Sharma, Kishore Kadam

Based on true incidents, a group of 4 con artists conduct false raids against corrupt politicians and wealthy businessmen, posing as CBI sleuths or Income Tax officers. Since the money is illegal and unaccounted for, these politicians and businessmen do not want to file a police case, fearing negative publicity and people learning about their deeds. The group is led by Ajay Singh (Kumar) along with P.K. Sharma (Kher) and their 2 assistants, Joginder (Sharma) and Iqbal (Kadam). The real CBI gets wind of their false raids and CBI officer Wasim Khan (Bajpayee) is put on the job of hunting them down. Along with the help of Delhi Police Officer Ranveer Singh (Shergill), Khan starts following their every footstep and plans to nab them when they are all set to do one last mega-heist before ultimately retiring. Coming from the makers of A Wednesday the movie promised a lot and delivered pretty much to the expected demands. The only grouse that one can come up with, would be the forced romance plot and the unwanted songs. These two aspects break the otherwise good flow of the movie and can seem annoying. Akshay Kumar has finally delivered a decent movie after a very long time and Anupam Kher was his usual best. The duo get along well and can occasionally deliver the sarcastic humour which is enough to make you smirk. A must watch, at least once.

Thumbs up: Great story, amazing climax

Thumbs down: Unwanted romance and songs

Rating: 7.4/10

Race 2 (2013)

Genre: Action/Drama/Crime/Romance

Starring: Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandes, Ameesha Patel, Anil Kapoor

Bollywood would never die without giving up on trying to make a typical Hollywood movie. What does a typical Hollywood movie comprise of? Fast cars, hot girls, loads of action, high-tech gadgets and a plot that has little relevance or sense. Race 2 has effectively done each and every one of those in the worst possible manner ever. When you have playing cards that have 'thermal sensors that tell reflect on Deepika's sunglasses what cards her opponent has' and sports cars with 'parachutes that automatically trigger if it senses a freefall', you immediately know what an amazing movie this is going to be. The original movie had cars involved in it to a higher degree but it seems that in the second movie the makers were far too involved in showing Deepika and Jacquelines body to bother about the vehicles. Armaan Malik (Abraham) is a million-dollar tycoon who has made his money doing shady dealings. Ranvir Singh (Khan) is a con artist who has an idea for which he needs funding and who better to approach than Armaan himself. Armaan buys the idea not knowing that Ravnir's main motive is to dis-repute him and take revenge from him for murdering his girlfriend. The movie is a joke for the word 'movie' and is a disgraceful attempt at trying to be cool. From gadgets that are simply unimaginative and outlandish, gripping action that was missing throughout and a plot line that was far too twisted to be realistic, the movie is a complete wash. The only reason to watch would be the long-legged women but I am sure that cannot be the sole incentive to ever watch this movie. Avoid!

Thumbs up: Good loads of eye candy

Thumbs down: Horrible everything else

Rating: 4.2/10

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Crime/Romance

Starring: Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Pankaj Kapur, Shabana Azmi, Arya Babbar

Vishal Bharadwaj has a distinct style of his own that makes his movies different from the rest of the lot. Usually set in rural India, unique story lines, sarcastic humour and rowdy abuses; that is what Bharadwaj is all about. Mr. Harry Mandola (Kapoor) is an extremely rich land lord living in the village of Mandola in Harayana, India. His dreams of setting up an automobile factory near the village, is not as simple as he thought when the villagers refuse in transferring their lands to him. However, Mr. Mandola actually has a bigger problem then simply acquiring land, and that is his alcohol problem. 4 pegs of his favourite drink is all that he needs to become a completely different person, so much so, he even led a protest outside his own house against himself. To counter this problem, he hires Hukkum Sigh Matru (Khan) a well-educated driver and servant who is in charge of preventing him from getting too drunk.Chaudhari Devi (Azmi) is the local politician who has vested interests in the land deal and Mandola and his wealth. She strategically wants her son, Badal (Babbar) to marry Mandola's daughter Bijlee (Sharma) so that she may inherit all of Mandola's wealth when he eventually passes away. Pankaj Kapur puts on a fabulous performance of a drunk Mandola, of a stern Mandola and of a frightened Mandola with so much of ease and simplicity. The movie has got good performances but the songs get a bit too much after a point. The movie too is not up to the expectations that you would have of Bharadwaj but nonetheless, the movie is definitely worth it to hear Pankaj Kapur's drunk antics and the regular 'Bhencho-Bhencho'.

Thumbs up: Fabulous Kapur and the rest of the cast

Thumbs down: A bit long and too many songs

Rating: 7.3/10

Dear Bollywood (Things I want to say to the Indian Film Industry)

This post started on a serious note with what was supposed to be 10 things I wanted to say to Indian actors and/or film makers, but that was not to be. What it transformed into was a comic piece which had me laughing at my own jokes, much to the annoyance of my wife who was sleeping next to me at the time. Yes, it was one of those good days when I got to sleep on the bed in place of the couch. You have to realize that in my head, I'm the funniest person alive and in the same head all of you are laughing your guts out while reading this post... starting now! The only way you can tell me and the rest of the world that I wasn't funny is by commenting, which is something I welcome, but in all honesty I'll just delete that comment and you would have wasted all your time and energy in writing that comment... So I would suggest read the article and even if you don't feel like laughing, fake it!

Dear Bollywood, please stop using the word Bollywood. It means nothing, unlike that place called Hollywood which is, well, an actual place. Also saying you're part of Bollywood to foreigners is as good as saying you're from Timbuktu. Be proud of your cinema.

(Yes! I know I've called you Bollywood too in this article, but that's so that you listen to me and also so I get more hits with people searching Google)

Dear Shahrukh Khan, you may have an ever growing fan base, but we all miss the humble Shahrukh of the Fuji and Baazigar era. The whole 'I'm the best' attitude is just so lame. Also Ra.One, lets just hope the 'one' referred to the number of movies you had planned in the series.

Dear Deepika Padukone, we really want to see you do something other than playing the same old role of a modern girl who drinks, smokes, is okay with live in relationships, calls her parents by their first names etc. Nothing wrong with the role, but you've been doing the same thing again and again and again and again ... See how annoying it is when I repeat the same word ... That!

Dear Abhishek Bachchan, Ek role, Ek power house wala role mangta hai. Angry young man will do. No more multi-starrers, okay a few, but also some main leads playing complex characters in good stories. Good stories being the main part. Kabhi toh koi Idea apne liye rakhlo.

Dear Regional Cinema, is that the right term? I'm not sure, but seriously though, you make some outstanding films, so please release them with subtitles. We don't have to always wait for dubbed versions or for Hindi cinema to pick them up and remake them.

Dear “mithai” makers, I hope you learnt an important lesson. We in India watch classic Hollywood films, and world cinema, and Indian cinema, and pretty much everything you think we don't watch. So don't copy things and try to present them as original. If you do, don't send your film for consideration to the Oscars. If you do...

(Yup! Nothing. Nothing is what you'll get in return)

Dear Indian Cinema, when you release the DVD, kindly pay a tiny bit of attention to the subtitles. It's not too much hard work, and it will only benefit you in the long run when it comes to the international market.

Dear Akshay Kumar, in your own words 'Bacchae Ki Jaan lega kya?'. What in the world are you making. Rowdy Superbore and what not. Seriously, barish karwa aur hosh main aao.

Dear various actors and actresses, please, please, please keep your relationships a secret. We know you are all modern and okay with us knowing who you are dating, but honestly speaking, we don't really want to know... Okay!

Dear Anurag Kashyup, aapko itna gussa kyon ata hai? Zara chill marne Ka aur Gangs of Wasseypur type good-good filums banane Ka.

Dear Sonakshi Sinha, stop with the village-belle roles you've been doing and start experimenting a bit.

Dear Actors in their 30s and 40s with 6-8 packs, you make my wife drool. I no like this. Please eat more junk food.

Dear 3D - DIE!!

Dear Ek Thi Daayan, hahahahahahahahaha bas bas hansaa hansaa ke maare gi kya?

Dear makers of Agneepath (2012), Don't listen to anyone else, you made an amazingly bloody revenge drama with stellar performances, and I liked your film.

Dear...

Knock knock,

Excuse me a moment please,

Who's there?

'Tusshar Kapoor now with two s''

Tusshar Kapoor now with two s' who?

'You're right actually'

Dear Anushka Sharma, please take the advice I gave to Deepika and do roles that are other than that of a Delhi girl. Thoda moderation to banta hai Na!

Dear...

Knock knock,

Humph! Excuse me once again,

Who's there?

Tusshar Kapoor

Tusshar Kapoor who?

Jeetender ka beta

Chal jhoota!

Dear Gangs of Wasseypur, you made many a women on twitter change their twitter handles to 'womaniya' ... I know not why?

Dear makers of Student Of The Year, since you made a film about the new generation, all I'd like to say is WTF?

Dear Karan Johar, no one anymore cares if you're inside the closet, outside it, or in between. So, yes, if some doofus asks you that, you may go Tarantino on him. In fact I'd pay to see you go Tarantino on that poor soul.

Dear Imran, please meet Zayed Khan. Your future-self. No seriously!!

Dearest Makhi, my wife said she did not like how you looked in the film and that you gave her nightmares. Very superficial of her I know, but you might want to fire your makeup artist.

Dear Deol Family (minus Abhay), Where are you? What? I shouldn't wake them up? Oh okay!

Dear...

Knock knock

Ufff.. Sorry

WHO'S THERE?

'Ritesh Deshmukh.'

Ritesh Deshmukh kaun

'Woh yahaan Tushar aaya tha kya?'  #facepalm

(#facepalm kya? It's a twitter thing, Tum nahi samjhoge)

Dear Aishwarya, people still never get your jokes during interviews or the accent. Actually people don't get my jokes either, or my accent. Hmmmm...

Dear Irrfan, please don't let the West use and abuse you. You're a great actor so choose your roles wisely. I mean The Amazing Spider-Man ... What was that?

Dear English Vinglish, this English is a very phunny language and you made Mind Your Language into a filum. That is all.

Dear Sonam Kapoor, itna sannata kyun hai behan? What… wait, wait, I take the last part back.

Dear Omi Vaidya, aapka 3 idiots wala act khatam hua toh kuch aur dekhen?

Dear Prateik Babbar, I thought I had a squeaky voice. Also see above advice to Imran Khan.

Dear Vicky Donor, you took all the fun out of Doner Kebabs

Dear jamai raja, Hahahahahahahahaha yes, we're laughing at you.

Dear Saif, Older? Check. Younger? Check. Same Age? Abhi Picture Baaki hai dost. Okay fine, I'm jealous.

Dear makers of Bol Bachchan, Why? Whhhhhhhyyyyyyyy?

Dear makers of Paanch Ghantey Mien Paanch Crore, Thank you for ek title mien puri story.

Dear Madhur Bhandarkar, I have a story for you. There once was a director. He made a film. Then he made the same film in a different setup with a different cast. Then he made another film with a different setup, but it was still the same film, only with different actors. Then, he made another film, but this time is was still the same film where only the setup and the actors were different. Yes, humko pakaoge toh hum tumko pakaenge.

Dear makers of I M 24, if you would have told the audience the real age of the actors, they still wouldn't have cared about the film.

Dear makers of Jism 2, the only people who benefitted from your film were the producers of Sunny Leone's earlier films.

Dear Sajid Khan, Maaf karo Bhai, hum galati manlete hain. Houseful 3 mat banana.

Dear dialogue writer of Agent Vinod, "aap coffe ke liye chalna chahenge" ... Yeh kya hai?

Dear the team of Tezz, I love how your cast goes inside a manhole in London and come out in Birmingham. Might come as a surprise, but we too travel outside India.

Dear Akshay Khanna, Where are you? Kya? isko bhi sone do? Yaar, pehle bola karo.

Dear entire team of Players. You had a story given to you. You had two films you could get inspired from. And what is it you do... Bolo... Chup kyun ho... Time ki barbadi.

Dear Salman, there is so much I can say about you, but I won't, kyuki mujhe John aur Vivek nahi ban na hai.

Dear...

Knock knock

That does it

Who is it?

'Shatrughan Sinha'

Who? What?

'KHAMOOSH!'

Okay!

Talaash (2012)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Fantasy/Thriller

Starring: Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukerji, Nazwazuddin Siddiqui

A mysterious death of a movie star on a sea-side road in Mumbai leads police inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat (Khan) to investigate and understand what happened and why. On probing further, Surjan finds himself in Mumbai's famous red light district which is teeming with brothels and sex-workers alike. Surjan is having his own set of personal problems in trying to get over his sons death and thus ends up quarreling with his wife, Roshni (Mukerji) much too often. He finds respite in Rosie (Kapoor) a sex-worker who not only gives him some leads in his case but also offers him mental comfort and someone he can talk to. The movie plays upon the mysteries of the mind and the personal vs professional life of a police inspector. Aamir Khan has done his usual outstanding performance with Mukerji being at par with him. The only let down of the movie is the climax which is slightly low-key and not what the audience was expecting. Psychological thrillers are still a relatively new concept for the Indian audience and it be hard to find takers for such a movie. Had the climax been more astounding or twisted, the movie would have been worth the second watch. All that said and done, not a bad movie at all and a decent attempt.

Thumbs up: Aamir Khan and the rest of the star cast

Thumbs down: Not so thrilling climax

Rating: 6.8/10

Dabangg 2 (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Action/Drama/Romance

Starring: Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Prakash Raj, Vinod Khanna

When a thousand bullets come buzzing towards him, he can dodge everyone of them; when a hundred able-bodied men come charging at him he can put them all on the ground; when his car jumps 30 feet in the air and spins 20 times before crash landing into a pile of junk, he can walk out without a bruise. Ladies and gentleman, I bring to you for the second time, Chulbul Pandey (Khan). The suave and charismatic police inspector is back and this time he has a bigger jurisdiction to handle, the city of Kanpur. A city whose streets are filled with filth, crime and thugs, Chulbul starts cleaning up and when your cleaning such a huge city, there will be people who are not going to like it. Bachcha Bhaiya (Raj) is the local crime lord who is harbouring political ambitions which he intends to win by rigging the elections and thus using this new power to further his interests. But this can never happen if Chulbul Pandey has decided that he will stop Bachcha Bhaiya from achieving this and swears to get rid of him from Kanpur for good. The first movie was epic in its own way, just like how every Salman Khan movie ends up being. However, the second part lacked the humour and stupidity that the earlier movie had that made it interesting. What this movie also doesn't have is a story and thus its just a good guy trying to get rid of the bad one and that's it. Its just too straight forward, not very exciting, not very entertaining and simply, boring.

Thumbs up: Salman Khan. He is probably the only person in the world who can pull off such a role and such a movie

Thumbs down: Far off from part one and seriously lacks the entertainment value.

Rating: 4.9/10

English Vinglish

Selecting which Bollywood films to watch has become a difficult task for me now that Aish is not doing films as honestly have not much criteria to select films I could like or enjoy; then you have to consider that there are too many films to chose from each year. Nevertheless sometimes I take risks and sometimes risks pay-off really well. This is one of those times.

Thanks to buzz from India viewers and reliable non-Indian critics reviews decided to watch this movie and to my surprise the choice was almost perfect as movie is exceptionally good considering Bollywood standards but also considering good western cinema. For starters this is the very first Bollywood movie that I see that is written and directed by a woman, Gauri Shinde, which I believe is not usual in that movie industry. My impression confirms what I know from western cinema, women filmmakers tell better women stories in movies. Most interesting is that this is her debut film, both as an screenwriter as a director, and in my opinion is a great debut that hopefully will give her a great career in the future.

Then film introduced me to Sridevi a very famous actress in India that took a long break from films to return with a truly impressive performance in this film. I am highly impress with Sridevi acting skills, especially because she is able to express with face and body expressions/movements whatever is happening in the scene; she is so good that if you mute sound you will know what is happening with character and story. But there are some scenes where she speaks Hindi to a character that speaks French back to her and even if we assume that they do not understand each other words, we clearly know that they do understand each other as her expressions and the way she speaks tells everything. Amazing! The French actor, Mehdi Nebbou, does the same; but see, that's something I expect from any French actor/actress. Yes is not something I have seen that good in Indian cinema, not even in Aish; but then, my Bollywood experience is very limited. Now I think will try to see her in older movies hoping to discover more excellent performances.

Even if film has what I consider a typical Bollywood film structure and is set in today's world, I found it entertaining, with a good story, and most important, a happy film that will make you feel good while and after watching. Story can be predictable as early in the movie we can foresee how will end, so movie becomes about the ride to reach the predictable end and gee, I was not prepared to what I saw.

First let me tell you what story is about. Tells about Shashi (Sridevi) being treated not good by husband and daughter as she cannot speak English and when she tries speaks with heavy accent. Indeed talks about how those that live with English around them see those that can't speak English as inferiors. Also, Shashi likes to cook sweets, which she sells and are highly praised by her shoppers but dismissed or taken for granted by her family. But due to a family wedding, Shashi unwillingly travels to New York City alone to help with the wedding, her family will come later.

Have to comment about what happens the first time ever Shashi boards a plane as besides the expected humor there is a cameo appearance by great Amitabh Bachchan, at least in the Hindi version as in the Tamil and other versions this role is played by different stars. Both in the screen are great but what blew my mind was what Bachchan tells the American migration officer when he's asked about the purpose of his visit to America. If only I could dare to answer so truthfully as Bachchan's character did ... then, maybe I'll do it next time or maybe not. Sigh.

Going back to the story, Shashi in New York has the expected bad moments every foreigner that does not speak English has in America with intolerant and rude people; but eventually she decides to learn English at a school and that's when things got complicated for my western mind and imagination. One of her fellow students, the French guy, falls for her and even declares his love in public, which is forbidden in Indian culture. But you see that Shashi likes what is happening, you know that the situation makes her feel good about herself, plus helps her self-esteem; as the "romance" escalates you start to wonder how the script is going to solve this issue as after all this is an Indian movie that had huge box office success in India, so nothing "forbbiden" could happen. The solution comes so simply that blew my mind as was solved with philosophical common-sense! In one stupendous sentence delivered by Shashi the to-my-western-mind complex situation is fully solved. Fantastic! Still, can't deny that wished story could go a different direction, but then film had to be a western production, which this is not at all.

As you can see, really enjoyed movie thanks to Sridevi performance and the unusual way story evolves into the predictable end. The rest of the cast has acceptable performances, tech specs are above average as in any Bollywood film, and you can see the director's good hand tying all the dots together quite efficiently. Often you will have songs, some dances and typical "exaggerated" acting scenes; but surprisingly songs and dances not often interrupt the narrative as usually is done in this cinema, consequently some songs or dances are fully integrated.

Of course I recommend movie, but have to remind you that first and foremost this is a Bollywood movie, so please do not expect a western style movie as if you do, surely will be disappointed by the lightness and/or irreverence of story and movie. But yes, in general, consider that this is a movie that western audiences can easily enjoy as an entertainment moment.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

OMG - Oh My God! (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Fantasy

Starring: Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Om Puri, Mithun Chakraborthy, Mahesh Manjrekar, Poonam Jhawer, Lubna Salim, Govind Namdeo, Murli Sharma

 The world is divided into two parts, those who believe in god and those who don't. God holds a strong sentimental value within most of us and we blindly follow the faith without thinking twice about why we are doing something and what is the meaning behind it. Kanjibhai (Rawal) is a middle-class atheist residing in the bustling city of Mumbai. He makes a living by running an antiques shop where he sells religious idols by faking its history and value. Its a profession people look down upon, he mocks people who believe in idol worship and those who celebrate festivals. One day, after insulting the high priest of a temple, Siddheshwar Maharaj (Namdeo), Kanjibhai finds his shop destroyed in an earthquake. The insurance companies refuse to settle his claim since earthquakes are classified as 'an act of god' and society tells him that he is being punished for not worshipping the lord above. Frustrated, he decides to take God to court and sue him for damages caused due to the loss of his business. Enter Krishna Vasudev Yadav (Kumar) who is the modern incarnation of Lord Krishna and shows Kanjibhai the right path from the wrong. The movie is indeed an eye-opener and shows how people around the world do something in the name of religion where practicality and common sense gets simply thrown out of the window. Although the movie tries to create awareness about correct religion, its message is still a bit jumbled and unclear. The message somehow doesn't get conveyed with the clarity that it should have been and seems very lost and vague. Apart from that, Paresh Rawal has done a good job which is different from his usual slap-stick comedy that we are so used to seeing him in. A great entertainer and a must watch with the entire family.

Thumbs up: Paresh Rawal at his best

Thumbs down: A very confused and vague delivery of the ultimate message that the movie wants to put forth.

Rating: 7.4/10

Competition - WIN! One of Two Film Books

Continuing with my quest to have more competitions on my blogs I am giving away two film related books to two different followers; 

First up is Bollywood's Top 20 Superstars of Indian Cinema (without the mentioned MP3 CD) which covers, as the title suggests, stories about the people who have made Indian Cinema what it is today. 

The second book is titled Seema and Other Stories and has been written by Gulzar who is a person synonymous with Indian Cinema. 

In order to win the books all you have to do is ANY ONE of the following;

Follow my blog by clicking the Join This Site button (Bottom Right Sidebar under Followers)

Follow TICKER on Facebook by clicking and liking HERE

Then simply EMAIL ME (clicking on the link will automatically open your mail client with my email in it or type in tickertalksfilm (at) gmail (dot) com) with SUBEJCT - Competition # 3, and which of the two Follows you have performed (Do let me know the ID you have used). If you already follow me, simply email me the ID. 

Now for some other T&Cs

This competition is valid in India only. 
The prizes will be delivered to an Indian address.

Incomplete entries will not be considered.

The final decision lies with the blog owner.

No cash alternatives will be given.

The prize will be sent via post and we are not accountable for late/lost/damaged/stolen prizes.

The prize cannot be substituted or refunded.

Only one entry per household will be considered.

The Competition ends on Sunday, 22nd September2012 at 11:59 PM

Ticker Talks Film has the right to change/alter/cancel the above competition without notice.

The Winner will be contacted directly via email. 

Hera Pheri (2000)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Crime

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Suniel Shetty, Tabu, Gulshan Grover, Om Puri, Asrani, Kulbhushan Kharbanda

The epic movie that permanently changed the face of comedy in Indian cinema and type-casted Paresh Rawal's role as the funny man. Ghanshyam Tiwari aka Shyam (Shetty) has migrated to Mumbai city from his village in pursuit of a certain bank job. His father, who worked at that very bank, passed away years ago in a fire and was promised compensation in the form of a job. Anuradha Panikar's (Tabu) father too passed away in the same manner, and is fighting against Shyam for the same job since only one position is vacant. In search of a house to stay in, he meets Baburao Ganpatrao Apte aka Babu-bhaiya (Rawal), a car garage owner, who agrees to keep him provided he pay rent and do the chores around the house. Raju (Kumar) is another resident at Baburao's house and Shyam and Raju start hating each other the moment they meet. Raju's mother lives at an old age home and he has lied to her that he has a high paying corporate job and is constructing a lavish apartment in downtown Mumbai for them to live in. With all three hungry to get rich and live a lavish life, fortune comes knocking on their door, or rather calling on their phone number. The movie is a cult comic epic and Paresh Rawal has put on, what can probably be termed as, the best ever comic performance in Bollywood cinema. This movie saw all three lead actors becoming comic actors for at least 10 years down the line and even today. Many have tried to replicate the comedy of errors but most have failed. A complete laugh riot and a must watch.

Thumbs up: Superb acting and amazing humour

Thumbs down: Unwanted song sequences

Rating: 8.4/10

Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2 (2012)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Action

Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Richa Chadda, Pankaj Tripathi, Raj Kumar Yadav, Zeishan Quadri, Piyush Mishra, Jameel Khan, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Satya Anand, Vineet Kumar

The murderous filth and slime of gangs and street lords is never ending. In continuation to Part I , Sardar Khan was seen being murdered by Sultan Qureshi (Tripathi) who in-turn was hired by Sardar Khan's arch rival, Ramadhir Singh (Dhulia) to do the job. Swearing revenge for murdering his father and grandfather, Sardar's elder son, Danish (Kumar) plans revenge but fails and is killed. It's now up to Sardar's second son, Faizal (Siddique) to win back his family's pride by taking revenge on Ramadhir and his associates who have wiped out half his family. The pot-head that he is, Faizal's mother and rest of the family have little hope from him that he would actually do something. Definite (Quadri) is Faizal's half-brother, born to Sardar's second wife, Durga. Definite too wants a share in the family business and decides to help his half-brother in his quest to wipe out Ramadhir and his henchmen. The movie treads on paths similar to that of The Godfather, where the family boss is killed and the younger son is forced to join the family business and uphold the family name. Even though the movie was shot in continuation and was intended for a one part release, there is a stark difference between the two parts. Part 2 has less humour and the occasional sarcastic line to make you laugh and has for more gunshots and blood than the previous movie. Manoj Bajpai's presence in the previous part added some form of character to the movie which part 2 seemed to lack. The missing presence of a prominent lead actor is a bold move by the makers but somehow left behind a huge hap. The movie in all, is a crazy mix of slang Indian abuses, raw action and cunning crime plotting. It may not be as phenomenal as its predecessor, but its still highly enjoyable.

Thumbs up: Fabulous performances

Thumbs down: Gets a bit stretched, lack of strong lead performer

Rating: 8.0/10

Kyaa Super Kool Hai Hum (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance/Adventure

Starring: Tusshar Kapoor, Ritesh Deshmukh, Neha Sharma, Sarah Jane-Dias, Chunky Pandey, Anupam Kher, Scooby

The prequel to this movie, Kya Kool Hai Hum, can be unofficially accredited with turning Bollywood around from the conservative family dramas to the open sexual comedies. The movie shook the nation with its open abuses, sexual jokes and skimpy women and kick-started the trend in this genre. The second part of this movie, aims to be just as openly ridiculous as the first if not more. Adi (Kapoor) is a struggling actor whose only claim to fame is selling ridiculous products on a tele-shopping network. DJ Sid (Deshmukh) is a less-known DJ who is looking for a big party to play at to become famous. Sid goofs up with the music during a fashion show which distracts model Anu (Jane-Dias) and results in a wardrobe malfunction on live national TV. Simran (Sharma) is a call centre executive who meets Adi by chance in a bus. Adi falls in love with her and proposes to her within 9 days which freaks Simran out. Simran lies to him that she is lesbian with her flat mate Anu and hence cannot marry Adi. Anu and Simran head out to Goa for a break and Adi and Sid don't want to be left behind. Unlike the normal formula for making a movie, this one has first created a string of jokes and glued them together on a hopeless plot line. This formula might have just worked, had the jokes been consistent throughout the movie and not gotten melodramatic towards the end. Some unnecessary drama and songs ruin an otherwise decent momentum. The jokes, in isolation, are a laugh-riot and extremely bold. Spoofs on a whole lot of people and movies are made which is a treat to watch. Enjoy the jokes and forget the rest, that's what you need to do in this case.

Thumbs up: LOL jokes

Thumbs down: Humour is not consistent throughout the movie, gets melodramatic at times

Rating: 6.4/10

Bol Bachchan (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Crime/Action/Romance

Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Asin, Prachi Desai, Asrani, Krushna Abhishek, Archana Puran Singh, Neeraj Vora

A Rohit Shetty film has a standard formula. Create a theme for humour, build a story around it, hire some cars, do a bunch of action sequences with those cars crashing into each other and ALWAYS have Ajay Devgan playing the lead role. Bol Bachchan does not promise to be any different from this formula either. Abbas Ali (Bachchan) has lost all forms of livelihood in New Delhi with not even a roof over his head anymore. Under the suggestion of his mentor, Shastri (Asrani), Abbas decides to move with him to the town of Ranakpur to start a new life there. The town is overseen by Prithviraj Raghuvanshi (Devgan) who is of royal heritage and looks after the town and its well-being. When a boy falls within a moat inside a locked temple premises, Abbas breaks the door open to save the child but realises that upon revealing his true faith he might get into trouble. In order to save Abbas' skin, Shastri's son, Ravi (Abhishek) tells Prithviraj that Abbas' name is Abhishek Bachchan. Prithviraj's lack of tolerance towards liars sees more and more lies being piled one on top of the other to the extent that Abbas leads two lives, one of that of his true self under the false name of Abhishek Bachchan and the other of his gay twin brother under his true name of Abbas Ali. The movie is a family laugh-riot that does not make any amount of sense. Ajay Devgan does a good attempt at trying to make you laugh but Abhishek Bachchan is a complete washout. Cliched and over-emotional Bollywood dialogues plague the movie and often enough boredom seeps amidst the attempted humour. Don't attempt to criticise the plot or decipher anything projected in those two and a half hours, just kick back, relax, enjoy and forget.

Thumbs up: Good attempts at humour but not the best

Thumbs down: Horrible Abhishek Bachchan

Rating: 5.7/10

Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Action/History

Starring: Manoj Bajpai, Jaideep Ahlawat, Richa Chadda, Reema Sen, Piyush Mishra, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Vipin Sharma, Pankaj Tripathi, Syed Khan, Jameel Khan

India's rural gangs and dacoits are a ruthless lot. Anurag Kashyap's latest venture traces the story of the coal mafia in the past century. Wasseypur is a small town in Erstwhile West Bengal, later a part of Bihar and now Jharkand. Soon after independence, the coal mines were distributed amongst businessman and a group of such mines came under the control of Ramadhir Singh (Dhulia). Ramadir recruits Shahid Khan (Ahlawat) to become his henchman and recruit workers to work in the mines. When Ramadir learns of Shahid's secret desire of controlling the mines for himself, he decides to eliminate him. Shahid's brother, Farhan (Mishra) escapes Wasseypur with Shahid's son, Sardar Khan to nearby Dhanbad. Years later, Sardar (Bajpai) grows up and vows to get rid of Ramadir once and for all, but not kill him, but to torture him and make suffer, bit by bit. The movie is raw and ruthless with a unique melange of motormouth characters, guns, swords, blood and loads of sarcastic humour. If some scenes can make you wince then there are an equal number of scenes that would give you a hearty life. The movie is made in two parts which were shot together but would release in a span of a few months. The biggest flaw in the movie is its endless and slow story that takes a yawning amount of time to evolve and move on. With an almost three hour run-time, the movie is not an easy watch and audiences are warned to brace themselves for a time of their life.

Thumbs up: Brilliant performances across the board, amazing humour and a great crime story

Thumbs down: Very slow to evolve

Rating: 8.2/10

Ferrari Ki Sawaari (2012)

Genre: Drama/Sports/Comedy

Starring: Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani, Ritvik Sahore, Satyadeep Mishra, Seema Bhargava, Nilesh Divekar, Deepak Shirke, Aakash Dabhade,

A simple story of a simple, idealistic father Rustam Deboo aka Rusy (Joshi) and his son Kayo (Sahore) who hail from a middle-class Parsi family residing in Mumbai. Rusy's father, Deboo (Irani) is a veteran cricketer who had a career ending injury at a young age due to which he has developed a grudge against the sport. Kayo is passionate about cricket and is touted to become the next Sachin Tendulkar, provided he get good training. Rustam works at the Regional Transport Authority (RTO) and his close friend Baboo Didi (Bhargava) is a wedding planner who wants to know where can she find a Ferrari in Mumbai. Baboo Didi's client is a local gun-totting politician whose son is getting married. She planted the unique idea to rent a Ferrari for the baaraat in order to make the wedding more glamourous. Now that the idea is sold, she found herself in a fix since Rustam informs her that the only Ferrari in the city belongs to the one and only Sachin Tendulkar and there is no way he would let her rent it for a day. Baboo Didi wants Rusy to request his father to pull some strings due to his cricket past and to try and get Sachin to lease his car. The movie comes from the director that gave the world super-hits like Munnabhai and 3 Idiots. Unfortunately, with such acclaimed siblings, the audience had high expectations from the movie which has fallen short of fulfilling such expectations. The story is hugely idealistic, extremely Bollywood-isque and is predictable to an extent. Its a pure family entertainer and is not made to win accolades at any awards ceremony. The performances though are simply outstanding and the man who shines above all is Boman Irani. Is performance of the old and grumpy Parsi 'bawa' comes natural to him but he decided to garnish it a bit to make it even better. Worth one watch but fireworks wont be shooting at the end of it.

Thumbs up: Boman Irani, a regular family entertainer

Thumbs down: Typical Bollywood, not expected from Vidhu Vinod Chopra

Rating: 7.5/10

Udaan (2010)

Genre: Drama

Starring: Rajat Barmecha, Aayan Boradia, Ronit Roy, Ram Kapoor

A story of the life of Rohit (Barmecha) a teenage boy who was removed from his school due to misbehaviour. His mother died when he was young and was brought up by his father, a man whose face he hasn't seen in the past 8 years he spent at school. Bhairav Singh (Roy) fits the precise definition of a cold-hearted father. He demands to be called 'sir' at all times, would beat and abuse Rohit if he overrules any of his decisions, squashed all his hopes of becoming a writer and forced him to study engineering amongst many others. Rohit also met his half-brother, Arjun (Boradia) someone whose existence he was never aware of and also someone who goes through the same ordeal as Rohit but at a far younger age than him. The movie shows a family where the elders are orthodox and expect the household to be run as a prison camp and not as family. The words love never existed and shall never exist and the only thing that would be present is respect and silence. The movie excels with stupendous performances, especially from the child actors with Ronit Roy being an exact replication of the character. The movie is slow, which is inherent for its genre, but is recommended to all and an amazing watch.

Thumbs up: Acting

Thumbs down: A bit slow, single-story

Rating: 8.0/10

Vicky Donor (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama

Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Anu Kapoor, Yami Gautam, Dolly Alhuwalia, Kamlesh Gill

Conservative families, social issues and a lack of acceptance of modern ideologies is a sure shot formula for a Bollywood movies success. Vicky Donor explores the preconceptions of sperm donation that prevail within the conservative Indian society and revealing its true intentions. Vicky Arora (Khurrana) is jobless and lazy and has no motivation or direction in life. His widowed mother runs a beauty parlor and is fed up of Vicky's high cost of living and no income. Dr. Chaddha (Kapoor) is an infertility specialist who cant seem to find the right sperm donor to fulfill the demands of his high profile clients. All his advertisements for sperm donors bear no fruit since the more healthy and versatile people look down upon sperm donation and the only ones who come forward are penniless and jobless people looking to make some easy money. One fine day, Dr. Chaddha spots Vicky and his sixth sense tells him that he is the man he is looking for. A sperm test reveals that his mojo is in top order and after a lot of persuasion and nagging, Vicky becomes a sperm donor. He soon realises that he can make a whole lot of money out of it and makes it his profession. Vicky eventually falls in love with banker Ashima Roy (Gautam) and wishes to marry her, much to the despise of Dr. Chaddha who sees Vicky as his only source of income. The story touches upon the social stigma in a humorous and fun manner but suffers from having a conventional foundation. Initial success, problems arise, the downfall and the eventual happy ending are all very predictable. Its an outline that almost every movie on the planet works on which makes it lose its traction and interest and hence is not unique in itself. John Abraham has managed to produce a good entertainer with above average performances but still needs to work hard if it needs to make a sounding impact at the box office.

Thumbs up: Performances, humour and an all-round urban entertainer

Thumbs down: Predictable plot outline, gets a tad boring at places

Rating: 7.3/10

Housefull 2 (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Shreyas Talpade, John Abraham, Zarine Khan, Shazahn Padamsee, Jacqulien Fernandes, Asin, Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Johnny Lever, Chunky Pandey, Mithun Chakraborty, Boman Irani

Bollywood comedy needs a serious lecture from Charles Darwin. It seems the theory of evolution applies to each and every entity on this planet except for the Indian film industry and especially its comedy genre. Two estranged brothers, Mr. Chintu Kapoor (Rishi Kapoor) and Daboo Kapoor (Randhir Kapoor) are looking at getting their respective daughters married. They would only get them married into prestigious households demand rich son-in-laws, perhaps maybe even the son of JD (Chakraborty). Jai's (Talpade) father is thrown out of the house by Chintu when he learns they dont live up to their standards and Jai vows revenge. Enter Jolly (Deshmukh) the son of JD who is good friends with Jai and agrees to help him get his revenge. They hire Max (Abraham) to go to Chintu as JD's son and marry their daughter Henna (Asin) and dump her before the wedding. Max ends up going to Daboo instead of Chintu and meets his daughter Bobby (Fernandes) hence the duo now hire Sunny (Kumar) to get the real job done. Jai wishes to marry his sweetheart Parul (Padamsee) and Jolly wants to marry JLo (Khan) but is too scared to talk about his true love in front of his father. The movie is a complete mess of characters with all the male leads constantly switching roles and partners to make, what could possibly be, the worlds biggest botched movie. As all Indian comedy movies, this one too thrives on a complicated and confused story, bad humour, bikini babes and too many stars. It really isn't any different from any other Hindi comedy movie that you might come across and does not even attempt at being so. Charles Darwin, I call thee to come down here and give a lesson or two to these mindless mortals!

Thumbs up: Zarine Khan looks hot, Shazahn Padamsee is hot, Asin sizzles and Jacquelin is every mans wet dream

Thumbs down: Hopeless plot, bad humour worse acting

Rating: 4.9/10

Kahaani (2012)

Genre: Drama/Thriller/Crime/Mystery

Starring: Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui,

Good performances, an enticing storyline and a superb climax is just what the doctor ordered to make a good movie. Vidya Bagchi (Balan) arrives in Kolkata from London to look for her husband who mysteriously disappeared a few days ago. Her husband, Arnab, came for an assignment to Kolkata and suddenly stopped answering telephone calls and any form of communication. A local police officer Rana (Parambrata Chatterjee) agrees to help her in her quest to seek her husband. The hotel in which she claimed her husband was staying in denied him ever checking in along with the National Data Centre (NDC) the company in which he was supposed to have been working for. Suddenly Arnab Bagchi does not exist and nobody, right from his parents address, school records, professional records do not seem to match the claims made by Vidya. What does emerge is Arnab's uncanny resemblance with Milind Damji, a man with a shady past and an obscure link with Arnab. Vidya realises that in order to get Arnab, she must find Milind but Khan (Siddiqui) the commander-in-chief of the NDC warns her to step out of it or she might lose her life. The movie is very gripping and keeps you wondering and glued to your seat right till the very end. No matter how many theories you might cook up half-way through the movie, it would all go for a toss once the climax is out. The only low points was the forced romance in a true Bollywood style, which thankfully was without any unnecessary song sequences. The movie is beautifully shot against the backdrop of the Bengali festival of Durga Pooja which adds power and aggression to the movie and a huge scoop of character. Vidya Balan has shined once more with some superb acting and has definitely made a mark for herself in the industry, if The Dirty Picture hasn't already done that.

Thumbs up: Astounding performances, gripping plot

Thumbs down: Climax might seem a bit far-fetched to few, forced romance scenes.

Rating: 8.5/10

Agneepath (2012)

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama

Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri

A remake of the 1990 blockbuster starring Amitabh Bachchan, Karan Johar attempts a remake of the original made by his father. Johar, more known for his melodramatic and housewife-ish movies, had created a type-casted genre for himself and its no wonder that critics received the movie with apprehension prior to its release. Loaded violence, street crime and raw aggression is the last thing that anyone would associate Johar with and he has successfully managed to live up to the original movie's reputation. I haven't personally seen the original but word has it that the remake is different in many aspects and reaping largest-ever box office collections in India is certain proof. Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (Roshan) was brought up by his father to be noble and wise and not give in to filth and greed of the streets. His father was wrongly framed and killed tortuously in broad daylight by Kancha Cheena (Dutt) the local gangster of the village of Mandwa. Seething with anger and vowing revenge, a young Vijay arrives on the beaches of Mumbai, ready to start a new life. He gets sucked into street crime and joins hands with Rauf Lala (Kapoor) a human-trafficker, Mumbai's largest drug lord and Kancha's enemy. Here he meets his love Kaali (Chopra) and befriends a police officer who agrees to help him take down Kancha once and for all. The movie has power and bucket-loads of aggression in every passing moment which gives you regular andrenaline rushes. Sure, there are up and downs but that is a part and parcel of making a commercial Bollywood movie. The unwanted dance sequences are slow and the family drama is like the garnishing on food; unwanted but still makes it look good. Roshan and company have put on a fabulous show and Dutt has fulfilled the role of an over-the-top villain with finesse. The movie has superbly incorporated religion, aggression, power and drama in its backdrop to make it highly entertaining and worth the 3 hours it demands. Yes loads of scenes can be simply sliced away to make it faster and better, but that's Bollywood!

Thumbs up: Performance, the character that the movie presents itself with

Thumbs down: Slow and unwanted scenes break the flow

Rating: 8.3/10