Mappillai (2011) – Dhanush ~ Horrible!

Dhanush has been one of my favorite actors off late. He does not have a charming personality, he does not have a great built (no built in fact) and yet his movies are very nice. In 2011, I saw Aadu Kalam and Seedan. Aadu Kalam was very good and Seedan was okay. But this one – Mappillai – was seriously horrible. It had stories flicked from all over the places and yet it looked like unfinished Lego blocks.

The first half-an-hour was unbearable. Vivek portraying a spoiled brat (“Youth” as he calls himself) was very bad. It was supposed to be the comedy part of the movie but forget laughing, I couldn’t even smile. The movie gets okay after Manisha Koirala’s entry. From there on, it could have been a good movie. And believe me, it looked promising. Especially from Manisha Koirala’s entry till interval looked like a typical Dhanush movie. But after that, it went from bad – to worse – to unbearable.

If you are still interested in reading the story, here it goes. The movie starts with Vivek getting hammered for being irresponsible. Vivek and his three useless friends just loiter around wasting their time and their parent’s money. Dhanush on the other hand is a “good boy” who goes to all the temples and acts responsibly. One day Dhanush gives an idea to stop their funding. Vivek comes to Dhanush for an idea to get rich and Dhanush asks him to love/marry a rich girl. Now comes Hansika Motwani and Vivek tries to woo her. But co-incidentally Dhanush impresses her. One day Manisha Koirala sees the two together and asks her henchmen to get Dhanush. She decides to select Dhanush as she needs a houesehold-son-in-law (veetodu mappillai). The cards are printed and then Koirala finds that Dhanush has a “past”!

Dhanush was a rowdy and was ousted by the villagers. But somehow Dhanush manages to marry Hansika. But Koirala stops the newly-wed to have their first night. But still Dhanush “does” it. Dhanush’s sister loves Hansika’s brother. One day Koirala insults Dhanush’s parents. To take revenge, Dhanush sets up Vivek as a rich businessman and Dhanush’s sister as Vivek’s daughter. Then follows a series of un-laughable, un-smilable comedy!

The climax is even more unbearable. I don’t think its even worth blogging it.

Rating: * (1 out of 5)

Fast and the Furious 4

Fast & Furious 4

The movie is fast as its three predecessors, but not as furious. The movie starts with Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto) and his team hijacking an oil tanker. It was an impressive start – I must say! The action was spot on and the adrenaline was created in the viewer’s mind. After this attempt, Toretto realizes that what they are doing is too dangerous and withdraws himself from the act and recommends others too to stop. He then moves to an unknown location in Panama City.

His girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) gets herself killed. It’s then the quest to find her murderer that Toretto gets into. O’Connor (Paul Walker) from the FBI also investigates the case in parallel. FBI wants the head honcho of the crime network that was responsible for Letty’s murder. Toretto wants to punish the person who killed Letty. The rest of the movie revolving around this – with lots of action, races, and bikini babes!

The movie lacked the strength in the story. However the action and racing covered it up pretty decently. With a better storyline, the movie could have become a 8+ on IMDB. But anyways…!

Rating: 3½/5

The Prestige – Superb

The Prestige

I had watched half of this movie somewhere in 2007 and I slept half way through the movie. It was at the onset of an era for me when I had just begun watching the “Drama” genre of movies. My love at that time was thrillers and action movies – movies which had fast-paced stories, lot of things happening on the scene, and stuff like that. But The Prestige is nothing like that. It is a typical Oscar-type movie.

The movie is about two rival magicians – young, enthusiastic, fame-hungry, and above all, hyper-passionate about their success. The story revolves around how these two magicians outperform each other and they try to know the secrets of their counterpart by hook or by crook.

While most of the time they manage to find out the secret, it is something that results in their own ruin. Although neither of them wanted to kill each other, they inadvertently end up doing that. And the last 15 minutes of the movie will take you through a storm. Let me warn you, the movie may look slow initially, but you will need to watch the movie very carefully, especially the second half, to understand what’s happening. The story is a bit complicated, but at the same time, it is very interesting. As many great movies are… the best part of the entire buildup of the movie is its climax. Christopher Nolan handles it very well in The Prestige.

Rating: 8/10

Crank – Pretty Good

Crank

Crank is a typical Jason Statham movie. The fact that I love those kind of movies makes me love this one as well. Although I would not rate it at the same level as Transporter 1 or The Bank Job, it does pretty well to keep you at the edge of your seat. The story runs at such a blistering pace that if you miss five minutes of the movie, you would be completely lost. Jason Statham is at his best! The lead actress’ entry happens only half way through the movie – and her role is not important at all… she is just for adding the glamour (read “sex”) factor to the movie.

The movie starts with Jason being injected with some Chinese poison which would kill him the moment his heart rate drops. The rest of the movie is how he tries to keep his heart going using various creative techniques like consuming coke (the drug… not drink), drinking Red Bull, injecting himself Epinephrine, having sex with his girlfriend, etc etc…

The climax is interesting… the twist in the end – although not spine-chilling – but good enough to keep up the pace of the movie. And the end is made smartly enough – its sequel-ready! Now we’ll have to wait and watch how Crank 2 :: High Voltage turns out…

Rating: 3/5

Dhoondte Reh Jaoge – Yuck!

Dhoondte Reh Jaoge

This movie should be shown in the film institute to show “how not to make a movie”. If there would be Razzie Awards (for worst movies in a year) in India, this one is a front runner to be nominated. Everything in the movie is wrong except for Paresh Rawal. I think I would have stopped watching the movie half was through if it did not have a few moments of saving grace by Paresh Rawal.  Be it Kunal Khemu or Soha Ali Khan or Sonu Sood, everyone in the movie were irritating! Some scenes like the one where Kunal Khemu runs from the goons and Soha tells him “I did not expect this from you” crap – it looked so filmy! The story lacked content, logic, and punch. In fact it was like Pav Bhaji without red chili powder. And worst of it is the way they ended the movie. I mean, had they (Paresh Rawal and Kunal Khemu) been successful in the venture of making a flop movie, I felt that would have been easier to digest than the insane climax that was shown.

It is a sheet waste of time and I think this movie was made for the same reason for which “Solay to L’gaan” was made in the movie. The only thing that was logical in the movie is its title – Dhoondte Reh Jaoge – I am still searching (for the logic, the time wasted, anything and everything that you can think of…)

Rating: 1/5 (DO NOT WATCH)

Ong Bak – Thai Speciality

Ong Bak

It was a word-of-mouth publicity about this movie that made me watch it. The movie is in Thai with English subtitles. It’s about a small village where the head of the statue of Gautam Buddha (Ong Bak) is stolen by a don. The hero – Tim (Tony Jaa) is an orphan in the village, who is an expert in Muay Thai, volunteers to get the head of the statue back. He goes to the city where he meets his friend – Humlae. Ting gets into a number of fights because of his friend but he never fights for money. In one such fight, he sees the villain. Then the climax is about how he fights the villain and get Ong Bak back to his village.

The fight sequences in the movie are breathtaking. They are so creative and different from what we have been seeing of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. The pace of the movie is also very good. If you like action movies, this one is surely going to be an out-and-out entertainer for you!

Rating: 4/5

Dev.D – The Debacle

Dev.D

I started watching this movie without much expectations – I hardly have any expectations from Anurag Kashyap. And to my surprise, the movie was not that bad (but min you, it was not good either!!). The cast, except for Abhay Deol may not even be recognizable. I felt Abhay Deol was top class (as usual). Mahie Gill and Kalki Koechlin as Paro and Chanda respectively were below par. Both of them need serious acting classes before they do their next film.

The flow of the movie was in lines with the masterpiece – Devdas. But throughout the movie, there was dryness. The movie does not keep the viewer held up. The character of Dev is so irrational. A normal person would never do something like what Dev does so often. It is okay if you portray a character with irrational behavior, but at least do it with consistency… but even that is missing!!!

Overall the movie was okay – if you don’t have anything good to do, then watch this movie. It is better than No Smoking and Gulaal. But still, I would have to give serious thought before watching Kashyap’s next venture – Jihaad.

Rating: 2/5

Delhi-6 : Good, but could have been Better

I went into the movie hall with big expectations. And why wouldn’t I? After seeing a masterpiece like Rang De Basanti coming from Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s hat, one would expect something close to that if not better. But then I had read rave reviews about the movie as well. But then I have a tendency to not go by the reviewer’s words as the choice of a movie varies largely from person to person.

Delhi 6

Delhi 6 had a very promising start. The way Chandni Chowk (Delhi – 110006) was introduced was mind blowing. I had been there just once and I could still feel the heartbeat of the place. I could imagine how the guys from Delhi would be feeling! And the action has been very well captured – especially the Friday namaz of Jama Masjid, the bustling narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk and the attitude of its residents.

Delhi-6 is a story of a simple guy – Roshan Mehra (Abhishek Bachchan) from the US of A who brings his grandmother (Waheeda Rahman) back to her own motherland. She is ailing with some heart disease which cannot be cured. And she wants to die in India. They get a warm welcome from the residents of Delhi-6. Roshan, who is not very familiar with such kind of hospitality finds it awkward, but later he starts enjoying it. He captures all these moments in his Motorola (I think it was Moto ROKR E8). There he meets one of his neighbor – Bittu Sharma (Sonam Kapoor), a wannabe Indian Idol. But her father wants her to get married at any cost. The first half of the movie goes in introducing these entertaining and interesting characters. Some characters like Ali uncle (Rishi Kapoor), Gobar (Atul Kulkarni), Madangopal (Om Puri), Jaigopal (Pavan Malhotra) and Jalebi (Divya Dutta) were very interesting and lively. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance of all these people. Apart from them, the cameos by Vijay Raaz – Kawwa Biryani fame of Run – as Inspector Ranvijay, characters like Mamdu, Rama Bua etc were nice and memorable. Cyrus Sahukar and Prem Chopra were grossly underutilized. But the director can’t be blamed for that in a movie that has so many characters.

The heart of the movie revolves the “Kala Bandar” (Black Monkey). No, it’s not about some gorilla or chimpanzee, but it’s a hysterical character that everyone tries to make use of for their own good. A series of murders and robbery happens and whatever happens in and around Delhi, the kala bandar is accredited for that. The life of the people in Chandni Chowk changes, when one of their own “brother” Mamdu’s shop is allegedly attacked by the kala bandar. Then a series of allegations results in a Hindu-Muslim riot situation. So far so good, but how each of the characters were used in this scenario would make you love or hate the movie.

The performance of Abhishek and Sonam, both were good, if not exceptional. Some scenes were done very nicely. Waheeda Rahman was at her best. So were Rishi Kapoor and Atul Kulkarni. And I must mention that Sonam Kapoor looked gorgeous! She has now climbed up my list of favorite heroines she is just one below Priyanka Chopra, who is still at the top 🙂

According to me, the plot was very good. But the climax could have been handled in a much more interesting way. I understood what the director wanted to convey. But then the message is not in pure black and white. It has so many gray shades that it leaves the viewer confused at times as to what exactly the director wanted to say. I wouldn’t say that Delhi-6 is a worthy follow-up for Rang De Basanti, but on an individual note, it’s a good movie. I can say that this is the best movie in 2009 (considering that it’s just February!). But I feel this one would not get the word-of-mouth publicity that RDB got. And although my head says that the movie won’t be a blockbuster, my heart wants it to be one!!!

Rating: *** (3/5)

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

This movie was launched with a lot of hype about how great the movie is. Some even went on to say that the movie was even supposed to be better than DDLJ. So basically when I sat to watch the movie, my expectations were sky high.

When the movie started, after seeing the first five minutes, I had a feeling that the movie would be something different and I was so sure that I would love the film. But as the movie progressed, the feeling was continuously changing. And the moment the “youthful” SRK entered, and the heroine could not recognize him… MAN!!! I was irritated. I don’t know if the heroine suffered from Prosopagnosia or it is something inbuilt into girls that when a guy gets rid of his mustache and redresses his hair, he becomes unrecognizable! Thank God, our Police doesn’t suffer from this disorder 🙂

Coming to the story, its a story of a married couple Surinder Sahni a.k.a Suri and Taani, who are “socially” married, but not in any other way. Mentally, Taani has not yet accepted Suri as her husband. The movie starts with Suri going to attend Taani (Suri’s school teacher’s daughter) marriage. But when the baaraat was arriving, their bus meets with an accident and everyone dies. Taani’s dad gets a heart attack and on the death bed, he requests Suri to marry Taani. And Taani left with no other choice than accepting he dying father’s wish marries the boring Suri.

Suri wants to keep her happy but he is not able to do that. One fine day a dance competition is announced and Taani requests Suri to allow her participate in the competition. Suri wishes to see her dance and so he asks his best friend Bobby (Vinay Pathak.. not even Vinay could save this sinking ship called RNBDJ) to change his look. Bobby does his best and guarantees that his bhabhi wont be able to recognize him (I appreciate Bobby’s confidence in guessing Taani’s IQ) and if she does then he will close his hair styling business and return back to his village.

Suri goes to the competition, in the same kind of dress he wore in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai during the college days, to see his wife dance. But in turn he ends up participating in the competition. And Rab decides to make Taani his dancing partner. And when Taani asks his name, he becomes RAJ… Naam To Suna Hi Hoga Aapne. Then for the next one hour, Raj impresses Taani in even given opportunity. Finally on a day when Raj claims his birthday, he takes Taani out and proposes her. She agrees to run away with Raj far away from her boring husband Suri.

But her heart doesn’t fully agree to this decision. This puts her in deep dilemma. Whether to go with Raj who gives her all the love and happiness in the world or to stay back with Suri who held her hand in the moment of highest pain when she lost her father and everything else in the world. Her decision is the climax of the movie…

CLIMAX (Click and drag to read the climax): On the D-day of the dance show when Raj’s name is announced on the stage, he doesnt turn up. And after a few seconds on wait, SRK comes in as Suri and dances with Taani. It it only when Suri dances like Raj, does she Raj = Suri. Thank God… her passion for dancing helps her understand the “complex” equation… nahi to pata nahi kya hota! And then there is a typical Yash Raj banner dialogue and then THE END – I heaved a sigh of relief!

Rating: 4/10
My Thoughts: Don’t watch it unless someone buys u a ticket!

Six Movies This Weekend

This weekend has been the most relaxing weekend of 2008 for me. I did not do anything apart from the thing I love doing… that is watching movies! I watched six movies from Friday night to Sunday evening. That’s an extraordinary feat for a normal person and a “good one” for a movie freak like me.

I would like to note down about the movies I saw for two things. One – so that I can remember what was special in the film (from my perspective). And TWO – for others who have a similar taste as I do to decide if they really want to watch the movie.

NOTE: Rollover the text after CLIMAX to read the climax.

Bankok Dangerous:
Reason I saw the movie: Nicholas Cage
How was it: Okay. Not Bad
What was good: Action was good. Nick was great as usual. Screenplay was nice.
What was bad: Bad storyline. Some scenes were poorly shot.
Gist of the movie: Nicholas Cage is a contract killer who decides to call it a day after his current assignment. He usually kills the guy who helps him in the assignment. But he could see the same passion to succeed in the guy who is helping him in this assignment. So he decides to teach this kid the tips and tricks of trade. And as the assignment is getting over, this kid gets stuck in the villian’s trap.
Climax: Nicholas Cage had to shoot a good local politician. But he does not do that. Instead he kills the person who hired him and also kills himself.
My Verdict: 6/10

Righteous Kill
Reason I saw the movie: Al Pacino and Robert De Niro combination
How was it: Very Good
What was good: Al Pacino
What was bad: A few screwed up scenes in between
Gist of the movie: Its the story of two cops who are incharge of investigating a case of a series of murders done by a serial killer. He writes poems after killing all the people. But he kills only bad people. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are accompanied by two offiers from local police department and one of the officers who had a personal grudge with Robert De Niro believes that Robert De Niro is the serial killer.
Climax: Al Pacino does all the murders. Russel Crowe kills him in the end and quits police duty.
My Verdict: 9/10

Varanam Aayiram
Reason I saw the movie: The hype about Surya’s acting
How was it: Good.
What was good: Surya’s acting. The plot and cinematography
What was bad: A few flaws. Poor acting by Divya.
Gist of the movie: Its a story of Surya (in double-role – the father-son duo) where the father dies when the son is on a army rescue mission and Surya gets the news when he is on board in the helicopter. He is shocked and broken after hearing the news. Then he thinks about everything that has happened between him and his dad. And the rest 85-90% of the movie is in flashback. Sameera Reddy is sexy as ever. And had a nice and easy role to play in the movie. Surya has amazed in the various roles he did in the movie. The college boy of 60’s, young father of 70’s, school boy of 80’s, college boy of 90’s, upcoming successful businessman, a passionate lover, a depressed lover, a drug addict, a military officer and a throat cancer affected old man. All these roles in a single movie… thats the most amazing part which deserves a standing ovation!
Climax: No surprise element here. The son Surya finishes his rescue mission successfully and comes back home and does the last rites.
My Verdict: 7.5/10

Thimiru
Reason I saw the movie: Did not have anything better to see and my cousin had said that the movie is a good one time watch
How was it: Surprisingly good
What was good: Everyting that a Tamil action movie should have
What was bad: Over-powered hero’s emotionless acting
Gist of the movie: The movie begins with a few goons chasing a guy named Ganesh (the hero) who seems to be absconding. He is hiding himself in a medical hostel in Chennai. Till the interval, you dont even come to know why the goons are chasing him. Its only after the interval that he reveals the story to Vadivel. Then the rest of the story is how he rescues himself and Trisha from the mess.
Climax: The villain’s sister had accidentally died with electric shock while trying to kill the hero as he had rejected her marriage proposal. The two villian brothers go on a hunting mission and the younger brother kills himself. The hero breaks the main villian’s hand but spares him his life.
My Verdict: 6.5/10

Yuvraaj
Reason I saw the movie: It got released this week
How was it: Okay… Not bad
What was good: The plot, Mithun’s performance, the music of Rahman and a few nice scenes.
What was bad: The execution, Salman’s acting, and the length of the movie
Gist of the movie: Salman loves Katrina. Boman Irani (Katrina’s father) does not want her to marry Sallu coz he believes that Sallu is not a family man. Sallu’s father threw him out of the house 12 years back. He has not seen his father since then. Then he reads in the paper that his father is dead. So he goes back home to get his share of his father’s multi-billion fortune. What happens is a series of melodramatic events between his mentally retarded step-brother Anil Kapoor and his spoilt debt-ridden younger bother Zayed Khan.
Climax: The relatives poison Anil Kapoor’s inhaler and try to put the blame on Salman and Zayed. But Salman takes Anil to hospital at the right time and begs Boman who is there in the hospital at that time to rescue his brother even at the cost of Katrina (which impresses Boman). In the end, everything ends well.
My Verdict: 5/10

Mixed Doubles
Reason I saw the movie: Had heard a lot about it
How was it: Amazing
What was good: The acting of all the Ranvir Shorey, Konkona, Vinay Pathak and most of the other actors
What was bad: Nothing really
Gist of the movie: Its about a happy couple (Ranvir and Konkona) who are leading a normal life. But Ranvir is not that satisfied with the relationship and wants to do something different. One day his old buddy from US turns up for dinner and claims that the secret of his youth is swinging (wife-swapping). Ranvir does everything to convince Konkona to go for it. He finds Rajat Kapoor through an ad. And then just before the d-day (or rather d-night), he comes to know that his friend had just fooled around and they never did such a thing in the US. But Ranvir had already put his foot in the hole and could not get out that easily. What happens later is the best part of the movie.
Climax: Ranvir’s and his one-night partner play a lot of games and she sleeps before he could do anything and Konkona just talks with Rajat Kapoor to spend the night. And the movie ends with a quarrel between Ranvir and Konkona but they cool down later and are back to their normal life.
My Verdict:8/10

Thats it for this week!