Ishq (Telugu) - Movie Review

I saw this film on my dearest friend's birthday, along with my gang! Having heard a lot of 'praise' and 'appreciation' for the movie, we decided to ditch the Blockbuster, 'Kahaani', and went for this flick, coz we wanted to watch a 'fun' film! And, we were utterly disappointed!

Ishq (not to be confused with the hindi comedy, Ishq) stars 'jayam' star Nitin and the extremely talented, Nithya Menon. The film is slow to death in the first half, with nothing novel to look forward to. The dialogues lack lustre and the sequences are too filmy to be believed in!

The director takes more liberty than one can afford to, and completely hijacks the movie away from a certain steered direction and does so by testing the patience of the audience. There are mind-boggling number of flaws and logic is thrown for a toss!

The second half is a little better comparatively, with a few laughs, but is tad boring. There is nothing new or different here, which one has not seen in any movie before. Its a movie, which people will enjoy only if they are mad or madly in love and have come to watch the movie with their beloveds.

I know there's hardly anyone who reads my blog (:P), but, i hope some random guy might read this and save himself/herself from 2 and a half hours of sheer torture! Its disappointing to see two talented actors being wasted in such an idiotic film!

MY RATING - 1/5 ( 0.5 is for the cinematography and 0.5 for the the actors for putting in their valued efforts.)

Rockstar - Regret watching it so late!

4 months after it released, i finally found some time to watch Ranbeer Kapoor starrer, 'Rockstar'. And i regret not watching it all this while! But, what an awesomely made movie! Its got all the elements that i look for in a movie - an intense love story, a powerful performance (RANBEEEERRRRR ROCKSSSSSS!!!), excellent cinematography and an equally complex yet engaging screenplay!

The first half seemed dry and raw, thanks to the unskilled lead actress, Nargis Fakhri. But, its Ranbeer as Janardhan aka Jordan who shines through the film. His transition from a dumb college student to the restless and short-tempered 'Rockstar' speaks volumes of his histrionics!! The girl, Nargis, needs to work REALLY hard to make it big. In fact, in some scenes which demanded her to emote, she failed to even evoke the slightest of the emotions in the viewers. But, as everybody has been saying its Ranbeer's show, completely!

After watching this film, i completely agree with what all the critics have been saying - Ranbeer truly deserves all the awards and accolades for such a stunning performance! Imtiaz Ali - Kya Baat, Kya Baat, Kya Baat!! And last important mention would be of the superb music by Mozart of Madras, A R Rahman, who has given the background score and the music which is the soul of the film!

Finally, its an awesomely told love story with such an amazing emotional connect with the viewers, that one is bound to feel the love and pain of the leads of the film! FANTASTIC!

Kahaani - Movie Review!

After a very long time, finally a movie that stays with you, even after you come out of the theatre. 'Kahaani', directed by Sujoy Ghosh, is a gripping film with a well written story that makes the film an edge-of-the-seat experience. In short, 'kahaani' ki kahaani ka jawaab nahi!

Based in kolkata, the movie is all about how a heavily pregnant, Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan), from London arrives in the city, to search for her missing husband, Arnab Bagchi. As she starts investigating, from the Police station to the 'national Data Centre', all her efforts go in vain as none of the people she meets, knows anything about her husband. And the handful of people who had the slightest of the knowledge about the him, are murdered by a funny looking contract Killer! :P

Now, revealing whether she manage to find her husband or not, is definitely a spoiler and you need to watch the movie to end the suspense! :P

Coming to the screenplay- its brilliant!! Advaita kala and Sujoy Ghosh have written a crisp script with awesome twists and turns. But, it has its share of loopholes, very few though. The cinematograhy is beautiful and showing such a clumsy place like Kolkata so beautifully real, is nothing short of a miracle!! And direction? Sujoy Ghosh, the same guy who gave us 'Aladdin', is here, with a masterpiece! Hard to believe!

Performances wise, Vidya Balan gives yet another fantastic 'delivery' with her role of a pregnant woman! She s definitely the hot favourite for all the awards and honours next year. Her eyes emote so well, especially in the climax. Parambrata Chatterjee supports Vidya Balan very well as the recently commissioned police officer, Rana. They share a chemistry that is raw and is believable. Also, all the actors give a believable performance, with nothing over-the-top.

The movie banks heavily on Madame Vidya, who has yet again proved that she can definitely give the Khans and the Kapoors a run for their money! The climax leaves you stunned and its Vidya who shines there. The director draws an amazing comparison between Vidya with Durga Maa, who ends all evils. And BigB's voice over further explains this.

On the whole, its definitely a very well written and an equally well made film, which deserves to be seen at least once, even though it does have a few flaws.

MY RATING - 4/5.

London Paris New York - Movie Review

Hum-Tum revisited! Thats what i felt when i first saw the trailers of debutante director, Anu Menon's London Paris New York. But, unlike Hum-Tum, this movie does not connect with its audience, and even appears superficial at times. It banks heavily on its urban and modern concepts, its beautiful cinematography and the lovely leading jodi- Ali Zafar and Aditi Rao Hydari.

Its an unconventional love story between two strangers who meet on a flight(technically after they land, and not 'on' the flight) and spend a 'memorable' day together. And, as expected, they develop a liking for each other when lalita(Aditi) has to leave for New York for her studies and Nikhil(Ali) has to stay in London. And all this just after spending a day together! The rest of the movie then follows the expected path- LONDON PARIS and NEW YORK!!

Lying on a wafer thin plot and a not-so-smooth screenplay, this movie works because of its lead actors. The whole film has just the two characters throughout the film! So, literally the whole film rests on their shoulders and its a brave bet by the director to go for two lesser known actors for such a demanding role. But, the actors carry the film almost effortlessly!!

Before praising the actors further, some criticism for the movie needs to be highlighted too. The biggest flaw that i found was in its weak script. The story was not convincing at all. How could two totally sane, modern and urban people fall in 'love' just after spending approximately 24 hours together? And they dont even stay in touch after that and bump into each other after years and spend the statutory '1-day' together and proclaim to be in 'LOVE'!! HOW?!

Apart from that, the movie also doesnt really manage to make a connection with its viewers through its 100-odd minute duration. Coming to back to the leads- Ali Zafar is A-grade!! He plays the director-in-the-making-desperate-for-freedom perfectly well. He even looks lean and his naughty dialogue delivery is his biggest USP! Aditi Rao Hydari looks radiant and extremely innocently beautiful. Already a favourite with the critics, she delivers a decent performance, though her role is poorly etched. The 3 different looks that the leads sport are funny, most terrifying is their Paris look. Aditi, especially, looks awful with that wig and ugly clothes in the Paris chapter.

Having blabbered all that i could, my final word is - Its just about an average flick! Dont go with any expectations and probably you'll end enjoying it more than i did.
MY RATING - 1.5/5