And More Endings......Bunty I Love You, Rukhsar and Mera Raqeeb.

Bunty I Love You

Technically, this deserves a blog post on its own.  I have been blown away by this drama in the last few weeks, as it told a very compelling story of love and desire in a very odd, possessive, twisted way.  While the show had a slow start, it boasted of great performances from Saba Qamar, Abid Ali and Noman Habib, which is what kept the viewers interested.  By episode 15, I found myself unable to tear my eyes away from each scene.  By the time the last episode rolled around, my heart was in my throat as I anxiously awaited the ending.  That's what made Bunty I Love You an incredible watch - the viewer had no idea how the story would end.  Would Mrs. Patel finally get the happy ending she felt was ripped away from her at a young age?  Would Bunty finally realize he was wasting his life chasing girl after girl?  Would Bunty accept Mrs. Patel as his companion in life?  Would Mrs. Patel learn to trust Bunty?  Or would Bunty be set free to meet other young women his age?  Would the ending be tragic or happy?  The questions were relentless in my mind, as the writers did a fabulous job of keeping the audience on their toes.

Ultimately, what transpired was not only shocking, but also incredible as it fit perfectly with the psyche of Mrs. Patel and mirrored everything she'd gone through in her own life.  I'll avoid discussing the ending for those who may pick it up now.

What I can say is that the performance of Saba Qamar is what kept this drama high on my must-watch list week after week.  When I first started this show, I found it odd, unrealistic and just downright "kooky."  But once I absorbed myself into Mrs. Patel's world, I found myself sympathizing with all the characters involved - but mainly Mrs. Patel, played so beautifully by Saba Qamar.  She displayed Mrs. Patel's weaknesses, strengths, ego, dreams, desires all so beautifully that when she laughed, I laughed and when she cried, I cried.  While Mrs. Patel was a complex character, full of as much negative as positive and the audience was well-aware of her dark side, she still came across as likable.  Such was the power of Saba Qamar's performance.  Take a bow.

Abid Ali played Mr. Patel as he should have been - mysterious and Mrs. Patel's conscience.  After leaving the world, he was still present in Mrs. Patel's world, whether chalked up to bitterness or showing that he had a positive influence on her life (regardless of her opinion).  And Abid Ali played this role with a lot of sincerity.

Noman Habib is a rising star.  He played Bunty to the point of making Bunty feel like a real person - he went from being a street-wise yet naive boy to becoming a more jaded, fickle, arrogant man and Noman played that transition flawlessly.

As a whole, I think Bunty I Love You was a great experience as far as dramas go.  The team dared to do something different, which made it stand out from the other typical stories on air.  Do yourself a favor and if you haven't watched this drama, watch it.  This goes down as one of the best shows so far this year (for me personally).

Rukhsar

Now let's talk about this disappointment of a show.  What started as a promising concept for a show quickly started to tailspin down the drain.  There's something highly unlikable about characters that are "goody goody" on the outside and spew judgmental lines on the other end.  Such was the case of Rukhsar and company.

Case in point being the character of Rida.  She's portrayed as this "sweet and innocent beemar girl with a heart of gold" (cuz you know, she has a hole in it).  Yet she's constantly spewing nonsense like "Rukhsar Baji, aap ko yeh nahin lagta ke Ammar Bhai ke saath yeh sab kuch is liye ho raha hai kyun ke unhon ne aap ke saath ghalat kiya tha?"  And Rukhsar's reply?  "Aisa nahin kehtay, Rida."  This girl had problems - heartless and equally as bad as Ammar's entire family.  Even while Rukhsar was married to Ammar, all Rida ever did was "kaan bhar" people about Ammar, how bad he was, how he's not good enough for Rukhsar, etc.  This is the perfect example of an evil person being potrayed as being good.  No, writers, NO.

Whether it was Rukhsar, Rida, Rukhsar's mother, Faizi, or Zaheer, these people were all portrayed as "good," while having shades of complete grey.

That aside, I did not like Ammar's outcome.  Nor did I ever feel that Zaheer & Rukhsar's relationship was sincere.  It all felt very forced and unnatural.

Going on to performances, there isn't one performance to praise in this drama.  Sumbul did a good enough job, but her character was too goody two-shoes to warrant a good performance.  Imran Aslam was wasted entirely - I wasn't sure what he was even doing on this show.  Agha Ali gave a decent enough performance, while Ushna Shah was irritating throughout.  The rest were not worth a mention.

The highlight of Rukhsar?  Getting to see Sana Khan's beautiful face for the last time, as well as her pairing with Babar Khan.

Mera Raqeeb

This is a show I don't even have a desire to write a review for.  So much potential, such a great cast and such  pathetic final few episodes.  I don't want to review this.  I'm glad one couple sorted out their lives, but on the other end was chaos.  Stay away from this drama.  It was a lot of heartbreak, a lot of crying and a lot of misery for nothing.

That's all for now!  A line of new shows have made their way onto my list, replacing those ending.  I'll have to compile a new list soon!  Happy watching!

Heropanti

Cast: Tiger Shroff (Bablu), Kriti Sanon (Dimpy), Prakash Raj (Chaudhary), Sandeepa Dhar (Renu), Devanshu Sharma (Rakesh), Vikram Singh (Rajjo Fauji), Shireesh Sharma (Police Commissioner), Samar Jai Singh (Bhuppi), Sugandha Mishra (Shallu), Sunil Grover (Guest Appearance)

Genre: Romance, Drama

Direction: Sabbir Khan

Production: Sajid Nadiadwala

Written by: Sanjeev Dutta

Cinematographer: Hari Vedantam

Editor: John Carnochan

Music: Sajid-Wajid, Manj Musik 

Release Date: 23^rd May, 2014

Language: Hindi

Duration: 2 hours 31 minutes

Heropanti, debut film for both the two main protagonists Tiger Shroff (Jacky Shroff’s son) and Kriti Sanan (she has worked in south earlier), has a concept very much seen and heard off. It is being rumoured that Heropanti is remake of Telugu superhit movie Parugu. It showcases the conservative families where parents are having tremendous love towards their children and also very protective. But parents’ love vanishes the moment they learn about their child’s desire to get married against their wishes. And if elopement happens, then the frantic search of the couple by the family begins; not to accept them but to kill them (known as ‘Honour Killing’ in our society, although there is nothing honourable at all in this). For the whole life, parents try to bring up their children without letting them know any troubles. All they want is that they should grow up and never become a threat to their status. Parents are just concerned about the well-being of their children and in their language, they can never ever think anything bad for their children. But when it comes to an important decision of life like marriage, parents don’t even bother to involve their children, rather end up imposing their desires upon the children. As parents, we must make our children competent enough to take decisions of their lives, we must facilitate them to choose the right life partner in an open communication environment, cannot afford to have autocratic approach and impose decisions upon them. The plot did remind me of Rangrezz and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge at times.

The movie begins with the introduction of Chaudhary Suraj Singh (Prakash Raj), his brothers Bhuppi Bhai, Pappi Bhai and other family members who have all gathered for the marriage of Renu, elder daughter of Chaudhary (Sandeepa Dhar). Chaudhary Suraj’s Haweli is in the Jat-land, where loud moments viz. shero-shayari, videography, song-dance, boozing etc. are all shown. The celebration in the air changes into gloom mood, when Renu elopes with her boyfriend Rakesh (Devanshu Sharma). And there starts the head-hunting for the family and relatives of Rakesh who could let Renu’s family know about their whereabouts. Finally Rakesh’s three friends become the target, Bablu (Tiger Shroff) being one of them. Bablu has been given a smashing entry in the movie with some good fist-moving-action shots when Renu’s relatives come to grab him, right out of his gym. Bablu and his two friends are locked up in Chaudhary’s haveli along with one more NRI person (who was captured just because he was wearing red jeans and the astrologer had predicted that someone in red trousers might know about the whereabouts of Renu and Rakesh). Bablu is pleasantly surprised to find her ‘love at first sight’ girl at Chaudhary’s residence – Chirpy Dimpy, second daughter of Chaudhary (Kriti Sanan), but it takes almost the first half to explore his girl in that Jat-land.   

Does Dimpy accept Bablu’s love ? She knows that one step out of the tradition would fetch her lot of challenges from her family, so, how does she move further ? What happens when the family learns about Bablu’s love for Dimpy? Does Dimpy’s family ever set Bablu and his friends free?

We have seen such plots many times in the past. What I felt was that the presentation missed punches. Love between Bablu and Dimpy is not developed properly. But yes, the plot tries to highlight both the versions – the reasoning for the rage of a father whose daughter elopes and also the youngsters’ reasoning behind wanting the freedom to choose their life partners. Director has wisely avoided any honour-killing scene and he touches this core issue in a very sensitive manner.

While watching the movie, I observed certain errors (though minor in nature) which could have been very well avoided. When Bablu and his friends are hit and tortured, in one frame, their face is bruised, but then the face is bruise free in the succeeding frame. Dimpy mentions Rakesh as Rajesh in one of her dialogue.

The dialogue by Bablu (in regard to his Heropanti): Sabko Aati Nahi and Meri Jaati Nahi” is a bit overused in the movie, but probably to justify the title.

Tiger Shroff has got a good Launchpad to showcase his excellent dancing, action skills. Though, I felt, he is less convincing in the frames where he has to emote and express. His action scenes have shades of Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan; his shirtless moments remind us of Salman Khan, and his dancing skills are fabulous, which has shades of Hrithik Roshan. Kriti Sanan, although does not have much to do, looks cute and charming in many frames. As debutantes, they have done pretty decent work, and we should not ignore them.

Heropanti tries the same old formulae, but Tiger Shroff definitely adds some freshness to it.

Rating: 2.75 / 5 (Average +)

Dedh Ishqiya

Directed by: Abhishek Chaubey

Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Madhuri Dixit, Arshad Warsi, Huma Qureshi, Vijay Raaz

Released: 2014

My rating: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - shitastic - good – great – amazing

Dedh Ishqiya is a film that gave me everything I wanted. Everything I expect from a movie, that too from a sequel of a film I already like a lot. I have been waiting for it for over two years, anticipating it with bated breath, so brace yourselves because this is going to be LONG.

Ishqiya is carried forward as a franchise by the extremely loveable characters of Khalujan and Babban, a notorious uncle-nephew duo, with eyes always on some prize and constantly trying to escape their rishtedaar from previous film. However while it is their franchise, it is not their story. Much like we witnessed Krishna´s story (albeit through their eyes) in Ishqiya, this time it is another woman whose life, struggle and plans come into focus. Neither Khalu nor Babban changed since we last saw them. Khalu is still in love with the idea of love and Babban has not lost anything from his brisque nature. Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi are both great, great actors. Arshad has the advantage over other characters in the film because he is really the only one providing fun and entertainment through one-liners, which he delivers like only he can. Naseeruddin Shah delivers one of his best perfromances, and given his amazing record that is really something. Khalu with puppy-eyes and love-struck expressions is a sheer delight. He is still a crook, but he looses himself in love (and is happy to do so), more than he intended. He has stopped dying his hair, has accepted his age, and his affections are indeed deep, not a flying romance which he shared with Krishna.

Huma Qureshi. My hope for a better Bollywood of tommorow.

But look for a woman behind everything, right? And this woman around whom everything is centered is remarkable. Now, we all know Vidya Balan seduced us one and all, men or women irrespective, with her earthy, raw sensuality. Begum Para seduces too, but through different means. Krishna from Ishqiya was real in every sense of the word. Begum Para seems to be from a different time and place altogether. As if she stepped out of an old painting, she carries herself with utter grace, refinement, class and distinct air of royalty. She seems an illusion the men are chasing wholeheartedly, and at the same time, as you wander through the haveli corridors in day time, it turns out the picture she gives to the outer world is a lying image, put up for the sake of mere survival. Unlike Krishna, Begum Para is not a deserted woman set after a revenge. And she does not need to sleep with anyone or lick their fingers to have them eating out of her lily-white hand. Her one look is enough to set hearts racing, as she possesses the aura of being above mere mortals and almost untouchable. She knows she has these qualities and is aware of the effect she has on people, and yet, at the same time..... she is a child in her soul. Crippled by past experiences, suffocated under the royal title and slowly dying on the inside, trapped in the enormous palace. Dedh Ishqiya heroine is just as exciting, and even more complex than Krishna, even though she is created from a different mould altogether. She too is unpredictable and unreadable, but that is where the whole similarity stops.

Every single interaction between Madhuri and Naseeruddin is magical.

If one expected a shrewd, scheming woman using her raw sex-appeal to get what she wants, Begum is not it. However Muniya is. She fits much more into the expectations people had if they approched the sequel with a pre-conceived notion of how the characters are going to be. Huma, arguably the most talented actress among the current new lot, plays her role of Begum´s close confidant with ease and conviction, and she is not at all lost beside other, much seasoned actors. Huma looks gorgeous and one can feel the energy and vivacity radiating from her. Her diction is wonderful. Not even her hairstyle can compete with the one the excellent Vijay Raaz is sporting though. In a film where everybody chases their own agenda he is no less and no more ambitious and sneaky than Khalu and Babban, making Dedh Ishqiya truly a story where there are no heroes and villains, just self-loving people who work towards their aspirations.

Screw poetry. My hairstyle is the best.

Dedh Ishqiya is a cinematic triumph in many ways, and one of them is the characters. This is one of the rare Bollywood films in which all of them are multi-dimensional, needed for the progress of the story and to drive the plot. There is no place for superficial rubbish.And all the actors involved are so massively talented and click so well together it just doesn´t feel correct to dissect the scenes for the sake of bringing somebody up or down. They are all needed, they all deliver and in the end the FILM is more important than any actor. And it works.

It wouldn´t be Ishqiya though, if love did not get in a way. And there is way more love than in the first film. Between more than two people. More than three. More than four. Dedh Ishqiya is just love, in many forms, with many faces, of different motivation and springing from various roots. The chemistry is at work between all four main protagonists, but interestingly Babban/Khalu and Begum/Muniya have better chemistry together than opposite each other. Babban and Khalujaan are indeed one of the most loveable „bromances“ I can think of, up there with Munna/Circuit, Karan/Arjun, „Shashitabh“ in most of their film and Anil/Jackie in everything they ever did together. They are comfortable with each other and it shows. 

What is much more rare and actually made Dedh Ishqiya so special was the bonding between Begum and Muniya. I have not seen two female characters being so close and in such a tight-knit relationship in a movie ever. At one point Begum adresses Munnia as her “dost, behen and jaan”. And there are more hints on what the relationship is actually about. The possibility that they MAY and MAY NOT be homosexual is enthralling. Munnia is Para´s „jaan“? We all know this word can be interpreted in more ways than one. And perhaps it is innocent. Perhaps not. It depends on the viewer, who can freely choose what they want to believe. And if indeed they are supposed to be lovers, then it is the most subdued, tasteful portrayal of such situation on the screen in Indian cinema. Nothing about it is in your face or riding on stereotypes. Even their prospective grooms are shown to be in awe and actually turned on by what they discover, rather than be disgusted and use it against them.

One of these is as innocent as a lamb without even knowing it.  Hint: it´s not the girl.

There are flaws. Minor ones, truly. The second half is rather slow, at the same time I cannot imagine any scene missing. Jagave Sari Raina dance number happens quite all of a sudden and out of nowhere, a bit more of a build-up would have made it even better. The song is gorgeously choreographed and executed, giving us even a flashback bringing us closer to understanding the backstory of Kahlu and Bagum. I definitely felt more should have been said about it. How close they were? What happened to them really? Why was it her specifically that Khalu set his mind upon once he realized he wanted something in life for himself? Was she his first love? How did he find her? Or was he keeping eye on her throughout the years? Too many questions to be asked.

Musical score is beautiful. I love the whole soundtrack, with qawali Kya Hoga taking the cake for the best song. And lyrics... Oh the lyrics! If we forget the Horn OK Pleaj track, it has been a long long time since such gorgeous and meaningful lyrics have sounded through cinema halls. Gulzar Saab penned down some of his best efforts for this movie. The background score is hauntingly beautiful and truly underlines the atmosphere of some of the scenes – Begum´s entry being one of them. It takes a little while before one gets used to Rekha Bhardwaj, but then the effect is wonderful.

Dedh Ishqiya can also boast of great dialogues. From Babban´s hilarious one-liners, his attempts to woo Muniya, Khalu´s elaborate poetry and all the lines Begum presents with her impeccable and unmatched dialogue delivery, the film is a language festival, Urdu in particular. Even I, though not familiar with it much, was smitten by how sweet and beautiful it sounded.

Camera work and visuals are excellent too.

To me the highlight of this fantastic film was Begum Para, brilliantly brought to life by Madhuri. Perhaps it is because I simply notice her more, then again there is reason why I consider this woman my favourite actress and she re-assured me I am justified in that opinion. And I am proud of her, because Begum Para is a role not everybody would or could do. Begum Para is not a Miss Goody-Two-Shoes. She is emotionally, possibly mentally disturbed woman. She is not interested in love, and of course there is the already mentioned homosexual colouring. Add to it you have to share screenspace with twenty years younger and fresh power-house of talent Huma Qureshi in most of the scenes. In her 30 years long film career Madhuri has given us some truly inspiring, strong characters. Independent and fierce women. Begum Para has something I don´t believe I have seen in any other of Madhuri´s roles – she is extremely frail and fragile. She is vulnerable. For all the plotting and mystery she has gentle innocence in her eyes. She projects such a feeling of helplessness and desperation one just wants to cuddle her up and comfort her, protect her from the realities of the world – and that we love Muniya for doing just that. 

Be it Para who is furiously scratching her own face out of old pictures or Para who in matter of seconds transforms into a seductive temptress, Madhuri plays the role to perfection. Her skin almost changes colour with the mood she portrays, she radiates warmth one moment and it is completely lost in the next, her expressions are lucid and clear and beautiful. And her dialogue delivery yet again flawless. Finally, this is a woman in her 40s, shown as extremely desirable, a central piece of the story, and both she and Muniya make for some of the best feminist characters in recent times. The world of Ishqiya is unique because it shows that WOMEN ARE PEOPLE without need to call anything female-centric and flaunting any such „progressive“ tag.

And so a complaint of mine would be we did not seen nearly enough of her in the film. The screentime is distributed amongst all the actors pretty evenly, which gives them all their chance to shine, but ultimately takes away from the most interesting person of the story. I desperately wanted to know more.

All the bias of mine aside, Dedh Ishqiya is not a flawlessly sculpted film, but that doesn´t take away from the charm it possesses and the story stands pretty strong. Dedh Ishqiya is a celebration of acting, of chemistry and camaraderie, of language and classical dancing. A strange, captivating atmosphere breathes through the film, showing a world where time had stopped, and while some want to rule it, others wants to be free of it. Dedh Ishqiya is witty, entertaining, clever, sensitive, original, better than in predecessor and for me as a woman extremely satisfying. Dedh Ishqiya is important.

Hope to meet these guys again, really.

Kochadaiiyaan – The Legend

Cast: Rajinikanth (Kochadaiiyaan, Rana and Sena), R Sarathkumar (Sengodagan), Jacky Shroff (Raja Mahendra), Nassar (Rikudaman), Shobhana (Yahavi), Deepika Padukone (Princess Vadhana), Rukmini (Yamuna), Aadhi (Prince Veerabhadra Mahendra), Shanmugha Rajan (Devadhevan), Ramesh Khanna (Voice), Rob Oldfield (Voice)

Genre: Periodic Drama, Action, Adventure, History

Direction: Saundarya R. Ashwin

Production: Prashita Chaudhary, Sunil Lulla, Sunanda Murli Manohar

Written by: K. S. Ravikumar

Narrated by: Amitabh Bachchan (Hindi), A. R. Rahman (Tamil)

Cinematographer: Rajiv Menon

Editor: Anthony

Studio: Eros International, Media One Global Entertainment

Music: A. R. Rahman 

Release Date: 23^rd May, 2014

Language: Hindi (Released in a few other languages as well)

Duration: 1 hours 50 minutes

Kochadaiiyaan is a periodic drama, India’s first 3D Motion Capture format i.e. photo-realistic 3D, an effort by debutant director Saundarya R. Ashwin (Rajinkanth’s daughter). Kochadaiiyaan, if split, becomes Ko + Chadiyaan (if we forget the extra alphabets added in the word), it means King +  Male with long matted hair (in Hindu Culture, Lord Shiva is sometimes known as Kochadiyan). This film is inspired by King Kochadiyan Ranadhiran of the Pandya Dynasty. Although in this movie, Kochadaiiyam (Rajinikanth) is the powerful commander-in-chief of the army of the Kingdom of Kottaipattinam ruled by King Rikudaman (Nassar). Animosity prevailed between Kottaipatanam and Kalingapuri since ages. This movie was much-awaited by the whole country, one because of the living legend Rajinikanth’s virtual presence (that too triple dose), and another due to Saundarya’s effort to initiate Motion Capture format in India. This initiative fetched her NDTV Indian of the year award for technical innovation in the film even before the film was released.

The movie begins with much familiar baritone voice of Amitabh Bachachan introducing the aftermath of a treachery of Kalingapuri. Boat of a small child (from Kottaipattinam) is capsized, who reached Kalingapiuri. He grows to be the most reliable, dependable and fearless warrior of Kalingapuri – Rana Ranvijay (Rajinikanth) and is being appointed as the commander-in-chief of the army of the Kingdom of Kalingapuri ruled by the King Mahendra Raj (Jacky Shroff). Rana Ranvijay’s entry is with a meaningful song “Aaya Khwab ka mausam, Laaya jeet ka mausam”. After a series of victories, Rana seeks permission from Mahendra Raj to attack Kottaipattinam. Prince of Kalingapuri and good friend of Rana, Prince Virbhadra (Aadhi) gets convinced with Rana’s idea to include Kottaipattinam’s enslaved soldiers in the army. Once, the border reached, Rana changed sides, hugged his childhood friend Prince Udaybhan (son of King Rikudaman) and asked the enslaved soldiers to come back to their country Kottaipattinam. Although King Rikudaman welcomes Rana and the soldiers, he could identify the younger version of Kochadaiiyaan. Rikudaman’s bewildered and insecure face reveals that there is some mystery behind his fear.

Rana gets to meet his childhood sweetheart Princess Vadhana (Deepika Padukone). Rana learns about the death of his mother Yahavi (Shobhana), missing brother and grown-up beautiful sister Yamuna (Rukmini) & Prince Udaybhan’s mutual love. Rana is able to get his sister married off to the Prince with the King’s blessings in spite of class and caste differences.

What follows afterward is a series of incidents. What happens to Yamuna and Prince Udaybhan after their marriage? Are they being accepted as part of the dynasty? King Rikudaman’s life is under threat. Who is the threat to his life? Was somebody trying to take revenge? What was the reason for the revenge? Was Rana’s motive good? What does the princess Vadhana understand about Rana ? Who succeeds? Does Kalingapuri King Mahendra Raj and Aadhi forgive Rana? How was the father Kochaadaiiyaan – as brave as Rana or he was a traitor? How did he die? What bothered King Rikudaman whenever he saw Rana? Did Rana and Vaadhna’s relationsip culminate in marriage? How does the revenge saga between Kottaipattinam and Kalingapuri take shape? Who wins? Does the missing brother of Rana ever come into the picture?

Although predicatable, the movie has a story line, but the much-awaited animation affects fails to create much impact. With the motion picture format, the characters should have looked more real. Throughout the movie, the ‘Real’ Rajinikanth, Jacky Shroff, Nassar, Shobana, Deepika Padukone was missed. It would have been great to see the chemistry between Father Rajinikanth and wife Shobhana and son Rajinikanth and lover Deepika Padukone. The chemistry between them failed to generate any emotional connect since they looked merely ‘animated’. But yes, the chariots, elephants looked more real.        

There are too many songs in the movie. Two songs are meaningful, but rest of the songs fail to create much impact. The highlight of the movie is the father Rajinikanth’s (A Shiva Devotee) Tandav dance. Rajinikanth fans won’t be disappointed since there is enough of recreation of Rajinikanth’s actions.

The movie might have looked magnificent in ‘real’ live action format. Still, kudos to Saundarya and the team of Kochadaiiyaan for keeping this one step towards alternative mode of filmmaking. I wish, what Amitabh Bachchan said could have been true i.e. In History of Hindi cinema, it would be written, ‘Before Kochadaiiyaan’ and ‘After Kochadaiiyaan’.

Kochadaiiyaan, meant exclusively for Rajini fans, fails to impress as an animated movie.

Rating: 2.75 / 5 (Average +)

X Men Days of Future Past Review

The latest X-men series movie titled Days of Future Past and directed by Bryan Singer is action packed and has not gone overboard on the special effect factor but the story is bit of a complex one to follow. Also with quite a number of characters appearing every now and then it is a bit difficult to follow the happenings on screen. I have been hearing from some sources that this is the best film among the X-men series which I cannot fully endorse as for me the best one till date is X-Men First class followed by X2.

In Days of future past, the present Mutants join together to go to the past and change an event that have an impact on their present existence. So we have Wolverine at the request of Professor X travel to the early part of 1970's to meet Charles and Erik. Helped by Kitty Pryde, Wolverine is transferred into that year for completing the mission.

Mystique is included in the plot as she is out there to eliminate Dr.Boliver Trask who wants to eliminate and completely destroy the mutants and wipe them out.

Bryan Singer the director has ensured that the movie is a good one watchable for all including the fans of the series. And Days of Future past is a worthy successor to all the prequels despite the complexity in the storyline.

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine with his screen presence takes the film forward while the lady character Mystique adds the entertainment value in terms of action and pace. Michael Fassbender as Teutonic was also impressive among the casts. Patrick Stewart, Ian Mckellen and James McAvoy also formed part of the supporting casts.

Overall, the present sequel won't disappoint you and is definitely a notable successor to the X-men series. My rating is 3.5 / 5.

P.S - Don't leave the cinema hall once the end title credits start rolling down. Wait for it to finish and there is something to watch out for once the title credits are shown.

How old are you

Cast:Manju Warrier (Nirupama Rajeev), Kunchako Boban (Rajeev Narayanan), Amritha Anil (Lakshmi Rajeev), Siddhartha Basu, Lalu Alex, Kanika, Vanitha Krishnachandran, Vinay Fort, Sreerag Nambiar, Jayaraj Warrier, Muthumani, Sethulakshmi

Genre: Family Drama

Direction:Rosshan Andrews

Production: Listin Stephen

Written by: Bobby Sanjay

Editor: Mahesh Narayanan

Studio: Magic Frames

Distribution: Central Pictures

Music: Gopi Sunder

Release Date: 16th May, 2014

Language: Malayalam

Duration:2 hours 21 minutes

How old are you, Manju Warrier’s much awaited come-back Malayalam film, and I must say, what a re-entry by Manju. Fabulous concept with a fabulous actress in it. It is the story of many females, who forgot to dream or rather dreamt only for husbands or children. For females, marriages mean the expiry of their dreams. ‘Happily married’ often means the fairer sex compromising for the togetherness of the family, taking care of the house efficiently and keeping her own dreams aside. But, should not it be like this that ‘Happily married’ means both husband and wife are taking care of each other literally and figuratively. Does a wife’s ‘taking care’ of everything wins her accolades from husband or children, quiet often not. Rather husbands start finding their wives boring since wives’ conversation may not be intellectually stimulating for the husbands which revolves in and around family, kitchen, groceries’ price etc. ‘How old are you’ certainly inspires one not only to dream but also to achieve them successfully.

Nirupama Rajeev (Manju Warrier), a UD clerk in the Revenue Department, is being rejected for a job interview (to fetch a job at Ireland) just because she crossed the maximum age criteria 35. Husband Rajeev Narayanan (Kunchako Boban) an RJ by profession, is planning to move to Ireland. Daughter Lakshmi Rajeev (Amritha Anil) too is excited to pursue her studies there. Both Rajeev and Lakshmi are disappointed (and a bit angry as well) due to Nirupama’s failure. At office, Nirupama is shown to be a complacent lady, not very concerned about the job, discreetly enjoying weekly magazines in office and a bit of high-headedness in front of her colleagues as well. At home, her different side is shown who shares a wonderful relationship with in-laws, loves interacting with husband and daughter. Her selfless approach and ‘content with self’ attitude gives certain lovely moments in the film.

Her face expresses various emotions with utmost perfection. For a lady, whose world revolved around her family, things take a different turn, when she is invited by the President of India (Siddhartha Basu) over breakfast. President was keen to meet mother of Lakshmi after Lakshmi impressing him with her question during his school interaction. It is hilarious to see Nirupama boasting about it to her colleagues and enjoying the attention from even the strangers.  

What happens after Nirupama meets the President of India? What happens to Rajeev’s decision to move to Ireland? Does he manage to get family visa? Does Manju continue to be a woman who forgot to see dreams for herself? Does she go through some low points in her life? Is Nirupama able to transform herself? How does she re-discover herself ? Does she become a reason for the success of her family?    

The first half is not very promising. Director has tried to build up the story in the first half. One keeps wondering what Nirupama is upto who has shades of maturity as well as immaturity in her. A feel-good factor is generated when we get to see her unconditional love and support towards her family. And one is also able to relate with the male chauvinistic attitude. We also get to experience the new generation’s stubbornness.

But the second half takes up the story to new dimension, where Nirupama is shown to make lowest point in life as the starting point. Every individual (whether a male or a female) has the right to dream. We shall not allow anyone to decide the expiry date of our dreams.

A great movie, probably with shades of Manju Warrier’s life in it, inspires all of us to pursue our dreams. Although all the cast have given good performances, this movie belongs absolutely to Manju Warrier.  

How Old Are You, a must-watch movie, inspires us to make ‘our dream as our signature’ and to make ‘the lowest point of our lives as the starting point for a new chapter of our lives’.

Rating: 3.5 / 5 (Good +)

Mohabbat Subh Ka Sitara Hai - Closing Remarks

I know - I haven't been writing lately.  Unfortunately, the current crop of dramas have failed to hold my interest and while I'm still watching 15 + of them, very few inspire me to write.  But I do feel MSKSH deserved some closing remarks after the finale.

This show started off slowly, but progressively got better and better.  The love story between Nabeel & Rumaisa won hearts - at least it won mine.  Nabeel played an ideal husband, Rumaisa his loving wife.  This couple was perfect - unfortunately for Rumaisa AND for the audience, tragedy struck.

What should have been a turning point for the drama instead became the drama's downfall.  I won't claim that this drama was bad.  It wasn't.  It portrayed a very real situation, very real emotions and very real reactions.  What this drama suffered from is very simple:  An uninspiring lead character.  Rumaisa's silence after Nabeel's death, her behavior towards Maham, her behavior towards Zeeshan - instead of inspiring pity, it made Rumaisa highly unlikable.  On the other end, Zeeshan's complete 180 in personality, his behavior twoards Rumaisa (the woman his beloved brother loved so dearly) and his distant behavior towards Nabeel's child was irritating to watch.  Regardless of his feelings towards his situation, I expected to see him act like a human being towards the family of a brother he claimed to cherish so much.

Given, Zeeshan's character progression in the last two episodes was much better, but I did not understand his bad behavior in the episodes leading up to that moment.

I also have to say that the drama dragged needlessly.  For 4-5 episodes, the show had almost zero progression.  This show also boasted of an intense number of villainous characters.

OK, you all must think I hated this show.  Not at all.  I actually really did enjoy it and was sad to see it end.  Unfortunately, it was not a masterpiece and definitely not one of Umera Ahmed's best dramas on air.  But it did tell a beautiful story of love, loss and the re-emergence of happiness.  More than anything, it taught a lesson as to how important communication is!  

The cast did a great job, namely Mekaal and Adeel.  Sanam Jung is such a cute actress and is very talented, but this role was too meek to do her talent justice.  The boys, however, both shone in great roles and shared great chemistry with each other!

One by one, I feel like my favorite shows are ending and are leaving voids, as there are so few new promising shows right now.  But to the team of Mohabbat Subh Ka Sitara Hai - thanks for entertaining us for these last few months!

How Old Are You Malayalam movie Review

A women centric feel good movie watchable for everyone, that's How Old Are You, the latest flick from the combination of Roshan Andrews and Bobby Sanjay team. I should say this is one of the best female oriented movie to come out of Mollywood in recent times and one of the perfect film for the family after the hugely successful Drishyam. That's strictly my opinion which others might disagree.

The film revolves around Nirupama a Govt employee, her husband Rajeev and their only daughter. Nirupama has big dreams that she confines within herself to meet the demands of family life. A particular incident connected with her daughter change her life forever. This is just the basic synopsis which I am not going to elaborate further.

For Manju Warrier, can't ask for a better launchpad for her second innings as the script by Bobby Sanjay has been focused right on her with many moments to perform and on screen she looked totally comfortable facing the camera after a long span. Having due respect for all the actresses we have in currently in Mollywood, I believe no other actress in the present generation would have been able to do a convincing role like how Manju portrayed Nirupama.

Kunchacko Boban played the husband's part too well to make his presence felt though the focus was more on the female protagonist.

Direction by Roshan Andrews is perfect well aided by the script of Bobby Sanjay. On the technical front, Gopi Sundar's background score is one of the main highlight giving tunes perfectly matching the situations. Cinematography and editing to deserved a mention here that helped the film look fine on screen.

There is a long list of supporting casts and among them Muthumani, Kunjan, Kalarenjini, Sethulekshmi, Thesni Khan, Edavela Babu, Kaniha, Lalu Alex, Sudheer Karamana and Vinay Fort impressed. The girl who played Manju's daughter was fine but at times the dubbing seemed artificial. Not sure if I have missed out any names and as said earlier, its a long list of supporting casts such that chances are there to miss out one or two.

On the whole, How Old Are You won't disappoint you and I am giving a big thumbs up to Roshan and his team to come up with such a subject. So the summary here is don't ever decide the expiry date of a women's dream.
My rating is 3.75 / 5.

Mr Fraud Malayalam Movie Review

Mr Fraud, the latest B Unnikrishnan flick with Mohanlal has a mysterious and suspense packed heist plot that does not raise its level to offer anything thrilling nor exciting. We have seen many conmen movies and this is yet another conmen movie, the only difference being the Kovilakam backdrop taken to narrate the plot. The saving grace here is the screen presence of Mohanlal in an otherwise pretty ordinary and average flick.

The plot revolves around an ancient Kovilakam where the ownership of wealth or the treasure of the Kovilakam is in dispute and a group is trying to rob the huge wealth stored in the cellar of the Kovilakam.

The first half was entertaining and kept up the suspense hidden with mystery surrounding the various characters especially the one Mohanlal was enacting but the second half that was a half baked one along with the climax didn't offer anything exciting nor did it gave the film a perfect ending or rather a thrilling ride we normally expect from such films. For the fans, its a masala fare with Lalettan offering enough and some of his dialogues with reference to his previous hit films went well the audience.

On the direction side, B Unnikrishnan has adopted a normal way but going too much hi tech to tell the story reflected in the script that became a complex one to digest as it progressed.

Mohanlal without a name and with many faces with his screen presence was a treat to watch but in terms of acting, there was nothing that could test his acting range here. The various make overs were good except two; the rock star one and the appearance right at the fag end.

Among the supporting casts, it was Siddhique who impressed the most along with Miya and Saikumar. Vijay Babu as Mohanlal's accomplice was just a watcher here with nothing to do. Sreeraman, Dev Gill, Devan, Sathar and Ashvin Mathew also formed part of the acting team along with Gopi Sundar and Balabaskar appearing in a cameo.

Music was ok and among them my favourite is the Sada palaya number. Background score was not bad but at times it was too heavy while cinematography was on the positive side.

Overall, the film is an average one for me that is ok for a one time watch with the least of expectations and my rating is 2.75 / 5.

Godzilla Review

Though many of you might not join with me, creature feature films have always fascinated me. Be it the previous version of Godzilla or Spielberg's Jurrasic Park series, I am a big fan of such films though the premise, settings and backdrop of such films are one and the same at the same time they are highly predictable too.

Present Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards, a reboot of the 1998 movie brings back the monster back on screen. The film is action packed especially the post intermission session towards the end and is visually well made but in totality its just an above average film good for a one time watch provided you bring down the expectation level.

The story takes time to build up and show Godzilla on screen and by the time the sleeping giant makes its appearance it was in a way a bit too late. Another aspect to be noted here is that Godzilla is given least screen presence and its MUTO's (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms) that gets a better deal and that was a disappointing factor.

The story begins from the late 90's in Philippines where a strange behavioural pattern is noticed and from here the plot shift to Japan. The strange pattern and the resulting catastrophe is connected to some natural disaster but things take a different turn and soon everyone realize that there is something big they are going to face to save themselves and the city they live.

Its the visual effects that saves the film to an extent especially the dull first half that has nothing in terms of action. Godzilla's appearance spice up things but deep in my heart after watching the movie, I felt or wanted the monster to have a better deal on screen with more screen presence. But the loud roar that Godzilla makes couple of times, it was something you should feel on the big screen.

Aaron Taylor Johnson, Bryan Cranston, Ken Waatnabe, Sally Hawkins and Elizabeth Olsen form part of the acting team along with rest of the supporting actors.

Overall, the reboot is a one time watchable flick that has been given a modern outook and with your expectation level set to the bare minimum, you should be able to enjoy the film. My rating is 3 / 5.

Manjunath

Cast: Sasho Satish Saarthy (Manjunath Shanmugham) Yashpal Sharma (Golu Goyal), Anjori Singh (Sujata), Faisal Rashid (Gautam, Manjunath’s friend), Karan Ashar (Undy, College friend), Asif Basra (Devendra), Seema Biswas (Manjunath’s mother), Kishore Kadam (Manjunath’s father), Divya Dutta (Anjali), Rajesh Khattar (Manjunath’s Boss), Anand Nandakumar (Manjunath’s brother), Om Prakash (Lallan), Girish Sahdev (Jai), Shishir Sharma (Golu’s father)

Genre: Biopic, Drama

Direction: Sandeep A Varma

Production: Viocom 18 Pictures

Studio: Viocom 18 Pictures,

Story: Based on the true story of Manjunath Shanmughan

Editor: Sandeep Francis

Release Date: 9^th May, 2014

Language: Hindi

Duration: 2 hours 07 minutes

Manjunath, a biopic by the debutant director Sandeep A Varma (advertising film-maker), is an effort to bring into light the true life story of Manjunath Shanmugham. Nation was shocked at the gruesome murder news of a 27-year old Indian Oil employee Manjunath Shanmugham (an IIM-Lucknow graduate) on 19^thNovember, 2005. He was shot dead by a Petrol Pump owner Pawan Kumar Mittal and his associates in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, when Manjunath tried to fight the corruption and expose the petrol pump owner’s efforts to sell adulterated fuel. Manjunath had even got his petrol pump sealed once. Although the main accused Pawan Kumar Mittal was sentenced to death by the Sessions court, it was later commuted to life imprisonment by Allahabad High Court. The Court acquitted two co-accused, Harish Misra and Sanjay Awasthi, while maintained the life imprisonment of five others in the case.

My effort is not to review this movie, since it is really challenging to review such movies, because, this is about somebody’s life. The person has gone through lot of pain, anguish, fear, threat, helplessness. The very truth of the incident, the loss to his family and other near and dear ones definitely touches our hearts, moves us. It is so sad to see that one is taught ‘Ethics’, ‘Moral Science’ since childhood, but when it comes to infuse ethos into the profession, or practice the ‘ethics’ which one has learnt, he or she has to bear the brunt.

The movie is being narrated by Manjunath himself, effortlessly portrayed by Sasho Satish Saarthy. A very happy-go-lucky Manjunath, fondly known as ‘Macha’, is being shown in IIM-Lucknow campus sharing wonderful equation with friends Gautam (Faisal Rashid), Sujata (Anjori Singh), Undy (Karan Ashar) etc. Very light-hearted moments. Manjunath and Gautam are at the top of the world on clearing the campus interview of Bharat Oil. Manjunath as a marketing manager learns the fuel adulteration in Golu Goyal’s petrol pump (excellently portrayed by Yashpal Sharma). Golu tries to bribe Manjunath, and on failing, threatens Manjunath. Manjunath who used to be once a happy-go-lucky person, turns out to be paranoid. His friends mistook him to be suffering from schizophrenia. He takes a short break from job and goes to his village, where some lovely moments projecting the bond amongst the family members – mother (Seema Biswas, a great performance from her), father (Kishore Kadam), and siblings are shown. He decides to go back for his job. Although parents want him to take up some other job at Bangalore, but it is heart-rendering scene that when he made up his mind, his mother accompanied him and father gifted him a Bhagwat Gita.

Manjunath, on learning that Golu Goyal has not mended his ways, tries to warn him and that leads to a series of threats to his life. Manjunath tries to connect with his friends and Boss (Rajesh Khattar) and informs them about the oil mafia, but his efforts go in vain. He understood that the network is spread much beyond his imagination. He tries to understand the logic that why diesel is adulterated with kerosene and how much profit the petrol pump earns. Though Manjunath had a choice to ignore the adulteration, but he could not act against his conscience. We might say that he should have taken his organization or colleagues into confidence, but who knows, probably he tried to get the buy-ins for his fight, but could not manage to get.

What happens later is really very tragic. Manjunath is being trapped by Golu Goyal and shot dead. The movie does not stop there. It shows the IIM and IIT students protesting to get justice for Manjunath, charge-sheet filing by Anjali and Jai (Divya Dutta and Girsih Sahdev, an IIM-Lucknow Alumni), handing over the compensation to Manjunath’s family, a condolence meeting held at IIM-Lucknow campus, the accused being convicted etc.

Manjunath, a must-watch movie, tells the story of an unsung hero who listened to his conscience.

Rating: 3.5 / 5 (Good +)