Ek Thi Daayan- Movie Review

After a brief hiatus, and missing the reviews of 'Kai Po Chhe' and "Mere Dad Ki Maruti', am back with the review of a thriller-horror flick, for the first time. 'Ek Thi Daayan'(ETD) coming from Vishal Bharadwaj and Ekta Kapoor's stable with a powerhouse of performers, seemed exciting enough for me to watch it on a festival, Shri ram Navami. But, just like ramarasam thats made on ram Navami, this movie had quite a few pungent ingredients, making it just about an average flick.

Music by Vishal Bharadwaj, Story developed from a short story by Konkana's father and direction by debutant, Kannan Iyer, the movie gives quite a lot of thrills, but has a sloppy end. Bobo, played by Emraan Hashmi, is a top magician, who has a dark past associated with 'Daayans' in his childhood. These Daayans come to haunt him in his present, thats when he seeks help from his old psychiatrist and girlfriend/wife, Tamara (Huma Qureshi).

His past relates to his hatred for his nanny-turned-step mom, Diana, played by the brilliant, Konkana Sen Sharma. The first half totally belongs to her and she keeps you confused with her wonderful histrionics and expresses mostly through her eyes. Cut to the present, his wife wants him to sell the flat that reminds him of his dark past. Then enters, Lisa Dutt, played by Kalki Koechlin, who arrives from USA and is a big fan of Bobo. The narrative then revolves around connecting the dots that Bobo reads in a 'tantrik' book. And yes, there is/are Daayans in the movie too. To find out who that is/are, catch the movie at a theater near you! :P

Coming to the performances, Emraan Hashmi is good, but may be an intense actor could have done the part better. Konkana Sen Sharma is sheer brilliance! Huma Qureshi and Kalki play their part well, though Kalki has a very small role, comparatively. The background music is spooky, and the cinematography adds to the terror. My only complain being the pace of the film in the second half and the predictable ending. Wish there was a more sophisticated or logical conclusion, something more shocking.

On the whole, being a horror flick, it gives enough shout-out-loud moments, but, as i said, the pungent ingredients make it a little too sour. My Rating- 2.75/5

Race 2 - Movie Review

Allah ki Dua is seriously needed for this movie to work at the box office! A sequel to the glamorous,  fast paced n totally on-the-edge entertainer, Race, this film is a perfect example of how we movie-goers are taken for granted. And if it gets into the 100-crore club, then it would be a perfect example of how dumb the taste of our movie goers is.

Retaining Saif Ali Khan (Ranveer Singh) and Anil Kapoor (RD) from the first installment, director duo Abbas-Mastan brought in glamour, cleavage n lot of brawny torsos with the addition of Deepika Padukone (Elene -_-), Jacqueline Fernandes (as Omisha yuck , Fugly!!), Amisha Patel (out of work aunty, filing in Sameera Reddy's Shoes as Cherry) and John Abraham ( Armaan Malik, P.S- dil mil gaye was better :P)

With such a huge star cast, probably the director thought the only way of getting them all work together is by giving them the chance to double cross each other! :D Like the first installment, this film packs in atleast 1 twist every minute and makes you feel like banging your head by seeing how foolish these so-called scamsters are. There are so many faults and loopholes in the film that if i start pointing all of them, i would need longer paper than all the clothes worn by Deepika in the film, put together!

Apart from some action sequences, a few -_- moments when the girls light up the screen, there is nothing good to talk about! The songs are worse than what a bikhari sings at traffic signals.

Coming to the performances, Saif ALi Khan whispers and gives that stupid look all through the film. Yawn! Anil Kapoor and Amisha Patel look perfect- old and out of work. They fit perfectly in their roles and blend well into the background! :D John Abraham looks dashing and yet again, his 6-pack abs gives more expressions than his goddamn face! Playing his onscreen sister (bechara john :P), Deepika looks gorgeous, ultra stylish and thats all she does in the movie. No acting-vacting! Jacqueline looks scary, especially in allah duhai song, and her acting- the less said the better!

Cars being blown up, amazing locations, beautiful girls and some action sequences et al, can never make up for the lack of story, logic and money wasted on this film. it was meant to give an edge-of-the-seat experience, and it does give that. Only that it makes you wanna get from the edge and leave!! Watch it only if you like masala flicks, that too on tv or net. Theatre ki velli money waste! :D
MY RATING- 1.5/5

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola - Movie Review

Vishal Bharadwaj is Back!! After a not-so-good 7 Khoon Maaf, VB is back with a comedy, set in his favourite haryanvi region and makes for a good political satire as well. I had perceived the movie to be a Imran-Anushka starrer, but it turned out to be a Pankaj Kapoor (Mandola) comic caper, with Anushka (Bijlee) and Imran (Matru) playing second fiddles to him. he completely outshines the leads!

Set in a fictitious village, Mandola, which is more-or-less owned by the super-rich Harinder aka Harry Mandola, who is such an addict to his desi daru, Gulabo, that he finds it hard to quit it and sees 'Gulabi bhains' when he tries abstaining from his daru. Bijlee, Mandola's only daughter, returns from oxford and is all set to marry the dumb,Badal (Arya Babbar), son of the state's chief minister, Chaudhari Devi's (Shabana Azmi). Matru is Mandola's driver and his close aide apart from being chaddi-buddy to Bijlee. 

Set in the backdrop of SEZ's being created, farmers being given a dry deal and the influence of 'Laal Mao', the film is a funny ride as to how everybody tries to get things done for their own gains. And yet, it does not get one bit preachy nor does it get strayed away from the plot. What it packs in is hella ,ot of haryanvi humour and lots of fun! Pankaj Kapoor is at his hilarious best.

Coming to the leads, Imran Khan is quite good, though his haryanvi does not sound convincing enough. Anushka Sharma, as usual, is bubbly, chirpy and has quirky touch to her- Sexy and sutry, naughty and wild. Shabana Azmi is perfect and needs no special mention about her stupendous acting skills. Arya Babbar is dumb and yet extremely funny. Its his best role, after dabbling in films in itsy-bitsy roles. The  other cast is good as well. 

On the whole, had they made it a tad shorter and squeezed in some more Imran-Anushka moments, the movie would have clicked well with masses and classes alike. Also, the dialogues being mostly in haryanvi might pose as hindrance to the non-hindi audiences. 

MY RATING-3.5/5

Seethamma Vaakitlo Sirimalle Chettu - Movie Review

After a really long time, tollywood is back to family genre in its movies, with Seethamma Vaakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (SVSC). The hype that the movie created months before even the filming was started was nothing when compared to the hysteria at the theatres on the day of its release. Starring two of the most biggest stars of Tollywood- Venkatesh and Mahesh Babu and having an ensemble cast, the movie lives up to the hype, well, almost.

Shot well in the beautiful locales of Andhra, the movie is a breezy entertainer after a really long time. Some detractors have pointed out the lack of good comedy, action sequences and trademark-tollywood-style glamour, but, the movie has a clean, family element as its USP! As for the comedy, Mahesh Babu has a superb comedy timing and makes up for the likes of Brahmanandam et al.

The plot is wafer and can be guessed easily after the first 30 minutes. Prakash Raj plays a charming, ever-smiling, 'simple' man, settled in a village in the Andhra region (cant recollect the name of this town, though). Jayaprada plays his wife, and mother to our leads- Venky and Mahesh. Lesser known actress, Anjali, plays Sita, Prakash Raj's deceased sisters daughter who is brought up by this all-helping couple and is paired opposite Peddodu (Venky). Seems like a Rajshri productions flick right? :P

Samantha plays Sita's (Anjali) cousin, paired opposite Chinnodu (Mahesh Babu), whose father hates these 'simple' people for their modest way of living. The rest of the film connects the sentiment between the brothers, their sanksaar n blah blah blah! :D Fortunately, there is no melodrama and that is a refreshing changes, especially in a telugu family entertainer, where they turn out to be more-or-less Saas-Bahu sagas.

Prformances are good, Mahesh Babu and Venkatesh steal the show. Praksh Raj and Jayaprada add weight to their roles, and are convincing. Anjali is good as the chirpy, simple Sita while Samantha has little to do except for pose in pretty clothes. Rohini Hattangadi is one character i completely loved, and her camaraderie with Mahesh Babu was the adorable. 

On the whole, quite a good watch, barring the length and a few teeny-weeny boring sequences. Watch it only if you can bear family sentiments and avoid it if you are looking for a pakka mass potboiler. 

MY RATING- 3/5