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Midway through the film, you might wonder if you re watching an 80s drama. For this is a film where the heroine clutches on to her mangalsutra and sermonizes about traditional Indian values. Where she is referred to as a devi by a character, and at one point has the idol of Goddess Durga right behind her. Where the heroine is made to dress in unforgivably dowdy outfits to prove her simple and traditional values. Where she is made to touch the feet of her lover, cause he s helping her out. Also, last but not the least the film uses someone s diary, yes a personal diary, movie review Bollywood is the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra,India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema Hamari Adhuri Kahani bollywood movies to take us into flashback, which comprises most of the film. So in flashback mode, the story unfolds. We meet Vasudha (Vidya Balan) whose bullying husband (Rajkummar Rao) is absconding. A hotel florist, she meets Aarav (Emraan Hashmi in sharp suits) who owns, we re told, 108 hotels. Ok. He s impressed with her floral arrangements, and then, progressively with her. That their romance is highly superficially presented, and the two central actors share zero chemistry makes the film a drag. Add to that the tired angle of Vasudha s law-breaking (don t ask) husband making a comeback, which has the police involved. To show that Aarav lives a jet-setting life, the makers have inserted a loyal friend/manager who says, flight miss ho jayegi with such regularity, it had the audience guffaw. This character (no fault of the actor, who is adequately earnest), provides further unintentional comical relief when he dissuades Aarav from going to a very dangerous place that s ridden with bombs, and when Aarav persists, says that he s coming along anyway as if they were going river-rafting. The performances are below-par, if you take the actors best work into consideration. Vidya Balan is capable of so much more. Here she tries convincing us of her spineless character that simply does not connect. Balan s eyes are still beautifully evocative, but how much life can you breathe into an unconvincing character? Emraan Hashmi looks dazed and jaded through the film, which is probably due to the strait-jacketed characterization. Rajkummar Rao, again a superb actor, is let down by an incomplete, simplistic characterization. One hears the film crew flew to a scenic location to shoot lilies for one single scene. If that s true, it s odd indeed. For one wishes such efforts were instead directed towards building the story and its characters. Mohit Suri is a fine director, but has often displayed a misogynistic core in some of his films. That continues here, as the story takes one shockingly regressive turn after the other. It s difficult to process that Mahesh Bhatt has penned this story. Dil Dhadakne Do Imagine being holed up on a cruise with your immediate family, relatives, friends, ex-loves, and work associates. It is exactly this scenario that Zoya Akhtar creates in Dil Dhadakne Do. The film explores our skewed take on relationships. How we often mistake control for love, interference for parenting, adjusting for marriage, and hypocrisy for being worldly-wise. And these wise, philosophical observations are made by our protagonist family's sanest member - their pooch Pluto Mehra (voiced by Aamir Khan). 'Humans have the gift of language, and yet there are so many misunderstandings between them,' he comments. And we see why. The film begins with business honcho Kamal (Anil Kapoor) throwing a cruise party to celebrate his 30th marriage anniversary. His wife Neelam (Shefali Shah) is managing the guest-list for this very pricey party that will run into several days. The two are distant from each other in private, and lovey-dovey when others are watching. But they unite as one force when it comes to the children. Thinking strictly from a reputation-in-society and business-profitability viewpoint, the two think nothing of interfering in their grown children's lives. They dismiss their son Kabir's (Ranveer Singh) love for flying and give him no option but to manage the family business. Plus they almost try bribing him with an airplane if he marries a girl of their choice. What they do to their daughter is equally, if not more, unforgivable. Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra) is a successful entrepreneur, who did it all on her own. But all her mother advises is, 'Stop focusing on your career, and focus at home.' Her father announces that he wants to be a grandfather soon. The fact that she's unhappy with the marriage doesn't seem to matter. That she has organized most of the party, but her name is left out of the invitation card, says it all. Rahul Bose plays her uptight husband. And Sunny (Farhan Akhtar) arrives on the scene later, upsetting an already unstable apple-cart. Farah Ali (Anushka Sharma) is Kabir's girlfriend, whom he meets on the cruise. Unlike him a spoilt prince with a career served on a platter she's had to work her way in the world. He calls her 'Fearless Farah' and falls for her. The dynamics between these central characters and their equations with the others on the cruise forms the film's crux. Aboard the ship, they encounter choppy waters within relationships and try fixing them. Some mend, some break, others strengthen. There is romance in the air, veiled competition, forbidden love, divorce and a rediscovery of old bonds. Co-writer and director Zoya Akhtar is a master with characters and delving into their always-shifting dynamics. Here too, she creates real, interesting characters and we are always hooked on to what's happening. However there is a certain depth missing, that we witnessed in Luck By Chance and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. The dialogue, penned by Farhan Akhtar has some memorable lines. The one in which Ayesha questions whether marriage is a race where one has to reach the finish line, is superb. And my favourite line from the film is the one where, in a conversation about being practical, Kabir says, 'If Shah Jahan was practical, would there be a Taj Mahal?' There are some superb performances in store here. Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah are superb as the parent duo. Priyanka Chopra does full justice to her character, and makes us empathize with her situation. But it is Ranveer Singh who remains the absolute scene-stealer. Note the scene where he's laughing when his parents are offering him a bribe of sorts. The more they talk, the more he laughs. Or the moment where he has a final conversation with his family he's simply superb. Ultimately the film is about everyone having their hearts set on different things, and allowing for a space where everyone's wishes thrive. Despite the few flaws, the film boasts of a robust heartbeat. Worth your time! 118 mighty india July 2015 July 2015 mighty india 119
movie review kollywood movies The film industry producing films in the Tamil language, is centered in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu, particularly in the Chennai neighbourhood of Kodambakkam, industry being nicknamed as Kollywood Innimey Ippadithaan It s Santhanam's second outing as hero. The storyline and structure is similar to any other Tamil film in the rom com genre. However, what makes it different is its treatment by debutant directors Murugan-Anand. The film mainly works out because of the well written comic one liners, smart packaging and some unexpected twists and turns towards the climax. Seenu (Santhanam) is a happy go lucky guy; everything goes well in his life until an astrologer predicts that he should get married within three months. By the time Seenu's parents scout a girl for him, he falls in love with Maha(Ashna Zaveri) but she keeps on ignoring him. At one point of time, Seenu says yes to an arranged marriage with Akila (Akila Kishore) due to the family circumstances and pressure mounted by his cunning uncle (Thambi Ramaiah). Later, Seenu understands that Maha actually played a prank and she is indeed in love with him. What happens next? Watch out on the big screen. Santhanam looks fresh and he is full of energy, whenever the film loses its tempo the actor lifts up the mood with his trademark one liners which constantly generate good laugh. Though the actor is confident, a little more effort in dance and emotional scenes would make him a pucca hero material. Both the leading ladies Akila Kishore and Ashna Zaveri look cute. Especially the latter have to work on her lip sync. The surprise packet is Vidyulekha in a special appearance. Thambi Ramaiah is hilarious as Santhanam's cunning uncle while Aadukalam Naren and VTV Ganesh also deserve a special mention. Technically, Santhosh Dhayanidhi's music is the biggest strength of the movie as all his songs are peppy and energetic while Gopi's cinematography has given a grandeur feel within the limited budget. Also, Antony L Ruben's idea of locking the running time to 134 minutes has certainly helped the movie. Though Murugan-Anand's idea of making a comic entertainer with an important message is laudable, one should wait little longer to know how audiences are going to accept the unexpected yet logically perfect twist in the climax. Vadivelu, the one-time successful comedian is trying his luck once again to play the hero. His Eli is an unmitigated disaster and is probably the worst movie he has ever done as a hero. The film is set in the 1960s. It begins with a radio interview, where we are informed that during late 60's cigarette was banned in India. In order to capture the powerful cigarette smuggler Nagaraj (Pradeep Rawat), Chennai police commissioner sends the small time thief Elisamy(Vaidvelu) as a rat and he befriends with Kappal (Mahanadi Shankar),the right hand of Nagaraj. The agreement between the commissioner and Elisamy is that if the latter finds enough evidence to arrest Nagaraj, Eli he will get his dream cop job. What happens next is what this boring comedy is all about. As you read the plot, this film is definitely having a good story-line and it would have worked well with an action hero. But having Vadievlu as a hero will only limit your options and the director too has diluted every possible serious scene with unwanted comic quotients which hardly tickle our funny bones. It's very awkward to sit through a film which tries too hard to be funny and that's what has exactly happened in Eli. Vadivelu has continued his trademark mannerisms and body language in but the script lets him down and the audiences cannot even imagine him as a spy. Though they have projected Vadivelu as a comic-spy a la Peter Sellers of The Pink Panther series, the writing is not witty enough to behold our interest and fails big time to entertain. Pradeep Rawat who comes as the deadly smuggler is unintentionally funny and many times he irritates us with his loud acting and clichéd body language. Sadha looks cute but she doesn't have any big scope to score. Technically, the film's production value is pathetic that the cinematography and art work gives a feel of watching a small budget movie. Overall, a good comedian like Vadivelu is wasted in a poorly executed comic film which don't even bring a smile on our face. 122 mighty india July 2015 July 2015 mighty india 123
movie review tollygunge movies Tollywood refers to the Tollygunge-based Bengali film industry in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. For the first time Sundeep Kishan has donned a mass role. The action entertainer also has Seerat Kapoor and Rahul Ravindran. Let's see how has Sundeep fared in this new avatar. Tiger (Sundeep Kishan) and Vishnu (Rahul Ravindran) live in Rajamundry. Both are orphans and close friends. A childless couple adopts Vishnu. Friends are separated and Vishnu lives with his parents. Vishnu now goes to college. One day he tells a lie to his friends that he has a girlfriend named Ganga who is from Benares. As a coincidence Ganga comes to the same college and she is from Benares. After small fights they become friends. Then they fall in love. Post college they join a software firm in Hyderabad. Tiger comes to Hyderabad to meet Vishnu. Friends turn foe over the lady. Ganga moves back to Benares. Vishnu follows her and is attacked there. What happens next forms the rest of the story. Sundeep carries the film on his shoulder. He does a good job in this new action role. Rahul Ravindran is decent and has performed with élan. Seerat Kapoor is okay. She has nothing much to do. The best part in the film is background score by S S Thaman. His songs do not impress much. First half of the film is entertaining, but the later half goes into a serious mode and is emotional. The story is not something that we haven't seen before. The director has strictly adhered to the plot. A new thing is that Sundeep Kishan does not have a heroine. Sundeep Kishan's Tiger Technically the film is good. Dialogues are neat. Camera work is awesome. Editing should have been crisper. Narration is taut. Overall, Tiger is a good film that can be watched once. Sundeep Kishan has done a good job. Background score takes the film to a different level. It's a very simple story and we have seen it many times before. Kerintha has nothing new to offer. We have three college students. Each one of them have their share of a love story. Everything is fun and fine when in college. Once out of college, reality hits hard. Life goes for a toss. The love birds decide to fly in different directions. The rest of the film is how they attain what they want in life and reunite with their loved ones. With a story as simple as that, there is nothing much that one can expect. The saving grace here is the performance of Kerintha the lead actors. All of them have done a commendable job. Sumanth Ashwin is first-rate. His acting skills have improved. Sri Divya delivers a subtle performance. Sumanth and Sri Divya's romance is cute. For a change Tejaswini has done something different here. She emotes well and we love her for that. Newcomer Bhavana has also excelled in her role and has done a good job. The film is fun in the first half, takes a u-turn in the second half. The last 15 minutes of the film definitely steals the show. Music of the film gels well with the story. On the flip side Kerintha lacks novel moments. Sometimes you feel that you are watching Sekhar Kammula's Happy Days. You know what s going to happen next, this is the biggest drawback. Mickey J Meyer's music is good. The college atmosphere is captured really well in the film. Director Sai Kiran Adivi has done an okay job. He could have done better. Nevertheless he has put in efforts and that shows. Overall, Kerintha has its moments, but lacks freshness. 124 mighty india July 2015 July 2015 mighty india 125
Mollywood The industry that inspires every other industry a lot, this is one such industry from where most of the remake comes. This industry doesn t come up with commercial hits but most of the movies are critically acclaimed and like by the people. The movies that came up this year She Taxi, Chandrettan Evideya, Chirakodinja Kinavukal, Oru Second Class Yathra, Laila O Laila, Nee-Na, Sir C. P., Swargathekkal Sundaram, Kumbasaram The year s biggest hit Mili is a 2015 Malayalam film directed by Rajesh Pillai. The flick that is a heroine-centric motivational film, Mili stars Amala Paul in the title role along with Nivin Pauly as male lead. The film, is produced by Dr. Avinash Unnithan and Sathish B. Sathish under Ordinary Films, which also marks the debut of Editor Mahesh Narayanan as scriptwriter. Watching Mili is like watching someone you know or watching you yourself on screen. The movie is that real and immensely ordinary that it is like rewinding a slice of life that is so familiar to us. Rajeesh Pillai does not try to make this familiar piece of life into something unfamiliar or thrilling. The reality captured is very refreshing indeed. The lens through which Mili s life progresses is very beautiful. Some may find the pace a tad too slow, but once you settle into this pace, its slow meandering flow becomes quite soothing and meaningful. Mili, played by Amala Paul comes across as a very introverted and shy person. There is a lot of pain and loneliness that Mili carries around. She is one among the many girls that you come across who finds she has no one to call her own and lives in a perpetual limbo. The flick recently celebrated the 60th Day of the successful of the movie that was a star studded affair, the whole cast and crew of the movie were present there. Double Barrel Is comedy thriller film written and directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, is jointly bankrolled by Prithviraj, Santhosh Sivan, Arya and Shaji Nadesan under August Cinema and Lijo Jose Pellissery under Amen Movie Monastery. The flick has a list that includes Prithviraj Sukumaran, Arya, Indrajith, Sunny Wayne, Swathi Reddy, Asif Ali, Rachana Narayanankutty and Isha Sharvani and Prashant Pillai composes the music while Abhinandan Ramanujan is the cinematographer. The movie is one among those movies that you can t afford to miss. Double Barrel is a mobster movie based against the background of Goa. Double Barrel has a mash fiction-sequel, feels absolute with Cuban cigars, side beards, bellbottoms, crisp beer, and the works. The style proportion is sky high in the movie with the Ray Bans, leather jackets, Jimmy Choos, Louis Vuitton, dapper suits and sharp suits, which adds to the 70s glam retro feelings. The flick will be a fun show with a lot of ammunition in the air around like the title talks. The caption which goes Adiyalla - Vedi Maathram points to high end killing machines complete with sexy cars in the frame. Double Barrel will highlight the Goan culture too and a lot of unfamiliar elements will be its hallmark. The movie is expected to hit the theatres this Onam. Life of Josutty: Oru Autobiography Is a complete family drama film created by Jeethu Joseph. The flick is penned by Rajesh Varma and bankrolled by Eros International and Backwater Studios. This is Eros International s first production in Malayalam. It feautres Dileep, Jyothi Krishna, Rachana Narayanankutty, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Sunil Sukhada and Kalabhavan Mani in important roles. The music is from the dairy of Anil Johnson, this is third venture with Jeethu after his last two films Drishyam (2013) and Memories (2013). The movie is a must watch as the flick talks about the Life of Josutty (Dileep), a simple farmer living in a village on the high ranges. Josutty has a father, mother and two sisters. It is about Josutty s life from the age 8 to 38. The film has locations in Idukki and New Zealand., Dileep is a classic actor and watching him act is always fun and if he is seen in an all new avatar is something even more excited. 126 mighty india July 2015 July 2015 mighty india 127