Category Archives: Movie Review

Tashan – Yash Raj Films has lost its way

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By Vidya Pradhan

There was a time when movies from Yash Raj Films(YRF) were the most anticipated events of the summer. Tight scripts, sharp dialogues and crisp visuals were wrapped in a tasty confection decorated with chaste but gorgeous white-clad heroines and Swiss locales. YRF has been responsible for mainstream classics like Deewar and Trishul but lately, the prestigious banner seems to have gone into a prolonged slump.

I can almost pinpoint the beginning of the decline. The year was 1995, and young Aditya Chopra has just helmed one of the biggest Bollywood hits of all time, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Thrilled by the success of DDLJ, the elder Chopra passed the baton, content to direct the occasional movie under what was now, for all practical purposes, his son’s production house. Continue reading →

U, Me Aur Hum – A review in points

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By Vidya Pradhan

  1. I watch these movies so you don't have to.
  2. Note to Bollywoood – SCRIPT IS KING! SCRIPT IS KING! SCRIPT IS KING!
  3. Ajay Devgan, who makes his directorial debut with this movie, obviously did not get that note.
  4. He also takes credit for the story – alas, IMDB points us to the "inspiration" for UMAH's central premise, The Notebook, a rather saccharine love story by Nicholas Sparks which was made into an ok movie starring Rachel McAdams.
  5. Movies with cutesy bilingual names are usually an indicator of box-office poison but Jab We Met was refreshing, so I thought I'd give this one a try.
  6. UMAH starts well and ends strong..it's the middle that's the problem.
  7. If a previous engagement gets you to the movie only by intermission, thank your stars, the worst is over.
  8. Fat kids cannot be used for comedy in Hindi movies anymore.
  9. Scenes involving babies in jeopardy should be kept short in "family" films.
  10. Some directorial advice – next time don't be cheap about hiring a good supporting cast, it pays off.
  11. Kajol does her luminous best, her fans will be pleased with her acting and not so pleased with her cameraman.
  12. Ajay Devgan should not be playing 25 year old romantics anymore. Why not emulate "The Notebook" and have a different cast for the younger generation?
  13. Vishal Bharadwaj's music is pleasing, if unmemorable. Download the title song.
  14. Did I mention script is king?
  15. Sigh!
  16. Now that I have thoroughly turned you off the movie, who knows, you may even like it.
  17. Full disclosure – I watched this movie on a DVD with questionable antecedents, but guilt over journalistic integrity made me watch the entire movie at one setting without any fast forwards, and believe me, I was tempted.

U, Me Aur Hum – *ring Ajay Devgan, Kajol. Directed by Ajay Devgan

My rating – 2 out of 5 stars 

Kukunoor's latest – Bombay to Bangkok

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Director Nagesh Kukunoor’s oeuvre has been relatively small but I would love to see someone come out with a “Best of..” DVD set. In it would be Iqbal, arguably the most uplifting of his movies and Dor, a quiet but polished look at two women brought together by sad circumstances. I would also include Teen Deewarein, a thriller with twists galore, Bollywood Calling, a sly look at the movie industry,  and of course Hyderabad Blues, his debut film, which invigorated many viewers sick of mainstream pap dished out by Bollywood.

Not all of Kukunoor’s movies are consistently engaging. Rockford was pretty dull, even for those familiar with the boarding school environment, and Hyderabad Blues 2 stretched the arranged marriage joke a bit too far. Bombay to Bangkok, though being way better than some of the other movies in the theaters right now, falls in this category. Continue reading →

DVD Review – Khoya Khoya Chand

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By Vidya Pradhan

Bollywood has been indulging a bout of navel-gazing this last year, offering up movies that have been tributes, analyses and spoofs of itself. If Om Shanti Om treated the 70’s as a glorious, inventive period in Indian mainstream cinema, KKC takes a peek into the 50’s, a time when heroines led perhaps more emancipated and free-thinking lives than their contemporaries today, and moviemakers, cast and crew, were literate and cultured. Continue reading →

Taare Zamin Par – Brilliant and flawless

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By Rohini Mohan 

There are some incredible people who have supreme confidence in themselves. They are totally secure in their abilities and require no accolades from those around them. They feel no need to promote themselves. They quietly let their work do the talking. And they always deliver. Aamir Khan is from that genre. Taare Zamin Par, Aamir’s first directorial venture shines as brightly as Lagaan and Rang De Basanti. Easily one of the best films of the year, it is simply not to be missed. It will touch you to the core. Continue reading →

DVD Pick – Jab We Met

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By Vidya Pradhan 

Sometimes it is all about the treatment.

You can have a complex script, big name stars, special effects and professional comedians or you can have a simple love story that is well directed, smartly edited and best of all, well written.

With a plot loosely similar to a Ben Affleck/Sandra Bullock movie called ‘Forces of Nature’, Jab We Met is director Imtiaz Ali’s second movie after Socha Na Tha. His forte appears to be small, intimate, slice-of-life ‘dramedies’, if I may coin a term. SNT was also expertly directed, though I didn’t enjoy it as much as JWM because I can’t stand Abhay Deol( or at least I didn’t, before Manorama Six Feet Under).

Jab We Met has a rather unfortunate title, because it sounds cutesy, pretentious and very ‘desi’ but it is, in fact, one of the best romantic comedies I have seen in a long time. You just have to watch the first few scenes of the movie to make out that this is a classy product and you are in for a real treat. Continue reading →