Ashdoc's Bollywood movie reviews

Masaan ( Funeral ground ) July 2015



Masaan---that was an unusual name for a movie set in Varanasi , the holiest of cities in hinduism....for Masaan means funeral ground , and boy !! that was unusual for a holy city that one associates with temples and Gods .

Or maybe that was the director's way of shaking me out of my upper caste world and reminding me of the existence of the lower castes even in the holiest of holies , for Varanasi is also the place where people want to be cremated after death....and that task is done by people of the dom caste who earn their livelihood by that profession .

And out of the two parallel story tracks that run through the movie , one is the love story of a boy of the dom caste ( played by Vicky Kaushal ) with a girl belonging to an upper caste ( played by Shweta Tripathi ) .

The other track is that of a daughter ( played by Richa Chaddha ) of a sanskrit scholar who wants to explore sex after watching a porn film and goes to a seedy hotel with her boyfriend , only to be caught in the clutches of a police officer carrying out a raid on the hotel and who blackmails her and her father ( father is played by Sanjay Mishra ) to get money in exchange for not letting out her deep dark secret---that of having sex before marriage....

Yes , this is Benaras (other name of Varanasi ) on the backs of the Ganges river....and it is situated in one of the most traditional parts of India , where a woman who has sex before marriage is branded a slut....

And the theme of the movie---is that even in the most backward parts of India , there are people trying to lead lives of freedom....free from caste barriers and free from taboos of virginity and sex...
It shows the prejudices they face in breaking the barriers , and their struggle to lead their lives in their fashion inspite of the backwardness of the surroundings and the taboos enforced by the people around them....

So do the new age people trying to lead an advanced life in a backward region succeed in their quest of achieving freedom with dignity ??
And do the two parallel story lines intersect anywhere ??
Watch the movie for the answers....

The track of the inter caste love affair raises your hopes of rebellion against the caste system....only to squash them disappointingly in a most unexpectedly tragic manner....but this gives the director the chance to show some stupendous acting of grief and loss by Vicky Kaushal in the background of some breathtaking photography of a train crossing a bridge in the night .

The difference in the upbringing of the upper caste girl from the lower caste boy is beautifully brought out , with the girl dishing out some fine poetry by high class poets while the boy admitting that he never even has heard of the poets or poetry....and his his heartfelt honesty in admitting so making the girl fall in love....
The director excels in showing moments of tenderness and love---of the lovers shyly taking their first kiss , and of vowing to run away to escape from the prejudices of the caste system....but my main grudge against the director is that he failed to carry this track to the much awaited fight against the parents who will naturally oppose the affair....

On the other hand , the director is much better in showing the attempt of Richa Chaddha to escape the prejudices of small town people against physical intimacy before marriage and takes that track to a more satisfactory conclusion . Sanjay Mishra as her father is absolutely redoubtable .

Above all , the director ( Neeraj Ghaywan) has solidly shown as never before the life in small town north India as personified by the city of Benaras .The ethos of the city , the sights and sounds and smells and the life and atmosphere of the city has been shown truly well . To me , that is the greatest triumph of the film .

The message of the film---that we must move on even after life shaking events and achieve our goals , even though small minded people around us may try to make it sound to us that the life shaking events are the end of everything.....that life has to go on and nothing must stop us....

And the director has really succeeded in showcasing that message....reason enough to see the film....

Verdict---Good . Three and a half stars .
However , the film will be liked mostly by art movie lovers . Not so much by commercial movie aficionados .

Bajrangi bhaijaan ( My brother , the devotee of God ) July 2015



After seeing this film I must say straightaway that it is about what Bollywood is best at---trying to build bridges between India and Pakistan....futile bridges of course, for no film has succeeded in making the two countries even an inch closer . But at least this film can't be accused of being anti hindu like PK was by some people ( not me ) and is not anti India like HAIDER .

I liked Salman Khan in the film ; that's because he plays what he is adept at playing due to his real life personality---a moron....
Of course , in the film he is a lovable moron unlike his real life where the moronic traits of his personality have gotten him into trouble with the law . Due credit must be given to director Kabir Khan because he has extracted maximum possible acting from some one like Salman who is just an entertainer and not really an actor .

And such is the film that it requires some acting....above all it is a very non Salmanisque film . For it requires Salman to get beaten up on a number of occasions and not play invincible superstar like he has played in other films . And the film has some real emotional scenes that bring you close to tears---again , very non Salmanisque .

So on to the story---
Sweet little Shahida who cannot speak since birth is brought to India from Pakistan by her mother to visit a holy place in the hope that the holy visit will cure her inability to speak . But she gets lost in India as she is separated from her mother when she alights from her train , and then she meets Pawan ( Salman ) who decides to help her get back to Pakistan.
Pawan is a devotee of the hindu God Hanuman ( also called Bajrang bali ), and is so simple and honest that he never speaks anything but the truth . This makes his landlord's daughter ( played by Kareena Kapoor ) fall in love with him . To complicate matters comes Shahida . Is it so easy to take her back to a country India is perpetually at loggerheads with ?? Watch the movie for the answer to this question .

The scenes of Pawan and his fiancee discovering that Shahida is not just a muslim but also a Pakistani , his various attempts to send her back to Pakistan , his meeting of mean people with devious intentions on the way , until he is forced to decide to take her back himself---all this does build your interest in the story .

Of course , there is the usual Bollywood angle of showing the Pakistanis as better people than they are depicted in the news that daily comes out of that country ; but in this film one feels that the story would not have moved forward if they had been shown as no holds barred India haters .

All this sets the stage for the heavy emotionalism towards the later part of the movie ( and very effective emotionalism at that ) in the setting of the region on which the two countries are at loggerheads---Kashmir what else....

Acting by everyone is effective , though no one can be called fantastic . But the scenes of emotion towards the end would move even a hardened person , so moving they are .

Songs and music is really good , and perfect for the emotional and moving scenes in the film . Photography is splendid , of the the Thar desert silhouetted by the golden sun and of the lengthening and shortening shadows over snowy valleys of Kashmir as the sun rises and sets . Technically , the film is very good---just like you expect from a Kabir Khan film .

The one who steals your heart is Harshali Malhotra who playes Shahida . She is just cuteness personified , with rosy cheeks and nose that turn red in the sunlight .

The journey of an honest God fearing Indian from 'Bajrangi' ( devotee of Bajrang bali ) to 'Bhaijaan' ( Pakistani word for brother ) is well worth a watch....

Verdict---Good .
Four stars .

Drishyam ( The sighting ) August 20015



Both Tabu and Ajay Devgan have matured sufficiently to play parents of young boys and girls , even when the Khans and Kumars are romancing young girls .

Drishyam tells the story of a self made man ( Ajay Devgan ) who may be half educated , but has a brain which works like a razor....and his heart is in the right place , for it beats only for his family....

And his family is the world to him , consisting of two daughters and wife ( played by Shriya Sharan )....the setting is Goa....they are middle class maharashtrians who live life within their limited means and do so happiliy....

But one day the members of this family get involved in a terrible incident , though the incident is not of their making....

Vijay ( Devgan ) has been bold enough to confront a police officer over his corruption earlier , and now that police officer is on to his tail to get Vijay's family arrested for the incident....

And powerful people ( Tabu , who plays a very high level police officer ) want to see the culprits arrested because they and their near and dear ones are are personally involved , while all needles of suspicion point towards Vijay....

Vijay and his family are subjected to gruesome forms of police methods of interrogation , including brutal beatings of the ladies of his house and himself . The audience was squirming in it's seats as this savagery was going on in front of their eyes .

Due to this ultimately your sympathy goes towards the suspects , while the police will be looked with fear and loathing....and such are the power packed performances by the family to protect each other that the task of sympathising with them becomes too easy....
The police officer named Gaitonde also evokes your hatred by his performance as the face of evil .

The story is slow in the first half , but boy!! when it picks up momentum it just arrests your attention in the second half....

The music I found to be almost nonexistent , or maybe my mind was too much absorbed in the story and skipped through it....

What I remembered was Tabu's breasts jutting through her police uniform , something that was evident even in the film's promos....but her situation was such that I wondered why she had been made to wear such a figure hugging dress ; was not a more demure dress correct for such a situation....??

Whatever be the mistakes , the film moves at a electric pace once it picks momentum , and is superbly crafted....the ending is most satisfying especially , for it bring closure to the people involved....

So why the name Drishyam ( the sighting ) ?? That I think is because Vijay cleverly succeeds in convincing many people that they have sighted him in some other place than where the incident took place on that day , and their alleged 'sightings' of him form a formidable stumbling block in the police investigation .

The film has been made on a smallish budget , for it has no fancy locations and no fancy photography even though the setting of Goa was ideal for that . The director has concentrated on making it a thriller , and his concentration has worked brilliantly !!

Verdict---Real good .
Four stars .

Ya Rab ( Oh Lord !! )



A controversial film is best seen with the people among whom it raises a controversy , so I changed my usual venue for seeing films and off I went to a multiplex situated in the muslim area of Kurla and watched it with an audience containing a majority of muslims....

And straightaway , I must say that this is one film made straight from the heart ; by people who's heart is in the right place , especially because they are muslims....

It dares to take the bull by the horns and accuse maulanas having tremendous respect and standing in muslim society of fomenting jihad and terrorism by preaching hate in speeches and privately inculcating hatred in impressionable minds , thus encouraging and indeed brainwashing them to become suicide bombers....

And it shows hordes of muslim mobs getting incited by this hate and go on the warpath destroying property and endangering lives.....

It shows videos of hindus attacking muslims being shown to muslims in order to incite hatred for hindus among them....

When a hindu police officer ( played by Ajaz Khan ) tries to reason with one of the jehadis that muslims enjoy more freedom in India than muslim countries , the jehadi retaliates by saying the truth---that muslims enjoy freedom here because hindus are afraid of them....

And the jehadi openly spells the beans on the jehadis' amibition to bring the entire world under the ambit of their fanatical version of islam....

Of course , this is countered by showing liberal muslims too....

An adorable little muslim boy who quotes verses from the Quran to prove that islam does not allow suicide bombing.....

A muslim scholar denounces the fanatics who breed hate....

And a doctor ( played by Manzhar Sehbai ) who is a very conservative muslim in practice ( to the point that his modern wife leaves him ) shows himself to be good man in the end by refusing to listen to the fanatics when it comes to saving lives....

Inspite of this counterbalancing of the fanatics by liberals , it is still a brave film....

For the fanatics are given ample screen space and are shown to have a booming and powerful voice by the redoubtable acting prowess of Akhilendra Mishra , who plays the villain---a radical preacher in cahoots with the ' neighbouring country ' who plans terrorist attacks on Indian soil with the neighbour's help....

Such a film could have been directed only by a muslim and backed by muslims ( like Mahesh Bhatt ) for it to be acceptable , for if a nonmuslim directed it and the film was backed by nonmuslims then it would create a communal uproar....

It shows the story of a beautiful muslim woman ( played by Arjumman Mughal ) who has gone into coma due to a suicide bombing , and who on coming out from it may recognize the suicide bomber---hence the terrorists want her killed along with the fetus she is carrying....

And Inspector Ran Vijay Singh ( played by Ajaz Khan ) leads the efforts to save her , backed by her husband ( played by Vikram Singh )....

But not so easy....!! For muslim mobs incited by the fanatic maulana are playing mayhem on the streets baying for the woman's blood and of those who are trying to save her....

It is Akhilendra Mishra who dominates the film with his booming voice , but Ajaz Khan does look like a dynamic police officer and walk with a swagger though his acting is only okay...

When things turn critical for the beautiful muslim woman's baby , even the good doctor throws his hands up and is forced to beseech God to save the child....

And it is upto muslims themselves to teach a lesson to those among them who spread hate against other religions....

So does God and does the muslim community do the right thing ??
Watch the film for that....

There are of course some silly things shown in the film , like an operation done on the patient in a moving ambulance which is waivering due to an attack by a mob---how can such a thing be possible.....
But I thought to myself---there are even more silly things and stupid scenes in films featuring Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar , and yet we help them make it to the 100 crore 200 crore and even the 300 crore club , then why not ignore these scenes in a film made with true intentions instead of cribbing about them.....

Interspersed in all this is some heavy duty discussion and dialogue about the role of Islam in encouraging or discouraging terrorism , and verses from the Quran and other islamic quotations are liberally thrown about by both parties to back their stand .

The muslim audience with whom I was watching the film was cheering every dialogue denouncing terrorism and clapping as the fanatics got the punishment they richly deserved....
Maybe like the film's makers , they had their hearts in the right place too...
Glad I watched the film with them....

Verdict---Certainly watchable .

The last act ( 2012 )



Somewhere on an isolated road on a godforsaken night is found the utterly mutilated body of a dead man---his face crushed beyond recognition . But along with him are twelve different pieces of evidence pointing to twelve different cities from where the killer came from---and pointing to twelve different groups of people , who could potentially be killers .

So where do we search.....?? Everywhere , of course.....

So we find police of twelve different cities searching for the clues which the evidence offers---and thus showing us vignettes of different parts of India , with its different colours.....

So we move from the mofussil parts of India like Hisar in Haryana to the urban landscape of Bangalore---and from posh parts where english is spoken to parts where even the hindi is crude and vulgar....

And the movie in different parts of India speaks different languages---Marathi in Maharashtra to Bengali in Kolkata to Tamil in Chennai ; and English subtitles are added to those parts which are in vernacular . Indeed the director for each part is different , showing his style.....

All types of characters are there---from Hindu to Muslim and from college students to female receptionists to urdu abuse spewing watch makers in Lucknow.....

........And all of them have one thing in common---that they have been defrauded by someone......
......And police investigation in each part of India unearths one crime or the other......

So who is it who has been involved in so many illegal capers in so many cities ?? Is it several people or is it one man ?? And if it is one man , then do the police succeed in tracking him down ??

Go and find out in the movie for the answer.....

But is the movie worth it ?? To some it is , but to others it's not.....

......Because for some people its the journey which is more important than the destination....
......And for such people the movie is worth it , for it does keep you engaged and engrossed till the end as the investigation gets interesting and springs up new facts....

But the end is rather disappointing , and so for some people the journey through the movie may not be worth it.....

I for one found one fact interesting---that the culprit had escaped.....

......Escaped into the mists of space and time.....

And how I wondered if I could do the same.....be free from the consequences of the actions I had done in my lifetime , be free from the responsibilities thrust upon me , free from the burdens of the world.....free to roam without being weighed by anything.....
And if I could do so even for a brief time , I dont mind if it is the last time I do anything---the last act.....

Verdict---good presenting style of the movie but ending falls flat.....not great.....

Manjhi the mountain man ( August 2015 )



An eccentric man undertakes an impossible mission---to build a road alone through a mountain that blocks direct access to the neighbouring town . For that town has the facilities like hospitals etc that his village lacks , and it was because of the lack of these facilities that he ( Dashrath Manjhi played by Nawazuddin Siddique ) lost his beloved wife Faguniya ( played by Radhika Apte ) .

And for Dashrath , Faguniya was life...she was his soulmate....and he was the partner that women dream of , who never remarried after her death and instead spent a lifetime trying to rectify the cause of her death so that others would not suffer her fate...

The setting is Bihar , the badland of India...and Dashrath has the bad luck of being born in the low caste that lives eating rats for food---yeah , in some parts of India , they still do that...

And the period is of 50 years ago , when the upper castes ruled the roost and Dashrath and his father and their caste had to suffer indignities that would shock today's people....like their women being kidnapped and raped any time....
Any lower caste who went against the upper caste masters had horseshoes nailed to his feet , and Dashrath's intended destiny was to be a bonded labourer . But he escapes to another town and comes back only when equality of castes is declared in India...only to receive a sound beating at the hands of the goons of the upper caste landlord ( Tigmanshu Dhulia ) .

But he has another reason to come back---the girl he was married to in childhood who is being forcibly married off to another man . And it is only after an epic struggle that he gets her....only to lose her after having two children....

And such is his love for her that he decides to tame the mountain which prevented him from reaching the nearby town for medical aid....and he begins to cut the mountain all alone , in what is termed a mad quest by the townsfolk....but it is quest that will turn him into a legend , a man whose name will be be etched on the road that he will build and on whom this movie will be made....for it is true story !!!

It is quest for which he toils 22 years , and he has to undergo numerous difficulties along the way....when a cobra bites him , he cuts off the toe on which it bit him for there is no other way to stop the flow of poison !!....when police arrest him for encroaching on government land for cutting the road , a newspaper reporter organizes a protest that frees him....the politicians of the town hog all the money that the government has earmarked to help him build the road and leave him penniless....famine strikes the land and leaves him alone digging for water because the people flee the place...and yet he keeps digging on....and he wins our sympathy....

Egging him on are visions of his wife who appears to him like an angel in dreams....and the dreams are pure fantasy---of a thinly clothed Radhika Apte in white...

But beyond dreams is the real world , and the real world for him is the state of Bihar in north India....and the barbaric atmosphere of rural Bihar that the movie creates would frighten anyone from visiting the place ever....
The ones who do visit , like the then prime minister Indira Gandhi do not even get a decent stage to stand on and it is upto Dashrath Manjhi and his friends to hold up the creaking stage which may fall down....

Indira Gandhi repays in the same coin by forcing the emergency ( a kind of martial law ) on India forcing one of the villagers to join the naxalite ( communist ) rebellion to kill the upper caste landlord , and Dashrath Manjhi is shown to march barefoot to Delhi for protest against this....actually this incident did not occur in his life and the director has taken pure cinematic liberty....

All this does not unswerve Manjhi for his aim , and you begin to applaud his efforts and his devotion to his task in the later half.... and happily so do his townsfolk ---the same people who once threw stones on him castigating him as a madman now want to help him...

So does he succeed in his goal ?? Watch the movie for that....

Nawazuddin and Radhika have mastered the rural dialect of Bihar quite well and acting by both is top class as expected . Pankaj Tripathi acts superbly as the evil politician who lusts for Falguniya and rapes women and tries to foil every plan of Dashrath---and above all never gets punished for it....remember this is a real life story and real life villains are not subjected to poetic justice....

And it is the stark realism of the film that will bring in the audiences....or so I hope , for this film deserves the accolades....

Verdict---Damn good .
Four stars .

Phantom ( august 2015 )



The moment I read that most reviewers were panning this movie for it's so called ' jingoistic ' tone I knew I was going to watch the movie . The mafia of reviewers of the liberal variety usually gang up against any movie that shows Pakistan in a poor light , and them attacking such a movie is like showing a red rag to a bull---the bull being me....once they criticize it , to me it is a sure shot signal to watch the movie....

So what is the so called 'jingoism' in the movie ?? It is the fact that Indian intelligence agency RAW decides to take a unilateral ( without permission of the government ) decision to kill those involved in the terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008---a terrorist attack planned and executed by Pakistan . What caught the goat of the liberal critics was the fact that instead making an 'India Pakistan are brothers' film , a film showed the Indians having the spine to take revenge on the perpetrators of terrorist attacks who originate in Pakistan .

So a disgraced Indian ex army officer who is suitably a patriotic muslim is chosen---Daniyal Khan played by Saif Ali Khan , and he is 'phantom' the one who does not exist for the mission is unauthorized and therefore is nonexistent in theory . Helping him is a Zoroastrian female ex RAW agent ( Nawaz played by Katrina Kaif ) . The film is based on the novel 'Mumbai avengers' by S Hussain Zaidi . His other book on terrorism ' Black Friday ' has already been made into a film .

The movie moves at an electric breathless pace in the first half---from London to the United states to Syria....and it deals death ( at least cinematic death ) to those involved in the Mumbai terror attacks . And straightway I must say that it has been slickly made....a little too slick perhaps , for the lower classes will not identify with the style of the film . But the educated classes will like it's style , and will of course empathize with the message of the film---that India should take revenge for those who dare to terrorize it , and that revenge should be taken America style....just like America sent it's agents into Pakistan to kill Osama Bin Laden , India should also kill the masterminds of terror by going into Pakistan....

Yes , the second half of the film is in Pakistan....and the stakes are higher for the movie directly targets the terror kingpins . And as the stakes are higher so are the dangers involved....
In the midst of all the higher stakes and greater dangers a subtle romance begins to develop among the lead pair.... but no romantic songs or kisses , only one or two brief moments of tenderness---for they have their task to complete....

Indeed there are no songs or dances---or rather they are left incomplete in the film....maybe I will be able to listen to their complete versions on youtube , for I thought that one or two of them had some potential to be worth listening....

And where is the jingoism....I found none of it....Does saluting a person who killed a deadly terrorist who perpetrated terror on your country qualify as jingoism ?? There are no chest thumping scenes or loud patriotic songs like in other movies , no heavy duty dialogues or raving and ranting against Pakistan . Indeed , sane Pakistanis who realize how the cancer of fundamentalism is fast eroding their society are seen co operating with the RAW agents---no wonder the film has been banned in Pakistan , for if right minded Pakistanis decide to heed the message of the film then the whole Pakistani establishment would crumble....

So does the mission get completed in the film ?? Watch the film for that....
The film frankly admits in the end that none of the terror kingpins have been brought to book---so the film is all fiction and fantasy....
But what is wrong in indulging in your fantasies for a while ?? Since I come from Mumbai and the terror attacks occurred in my city , I found this particular fantasy of a film well worth indulging....

Verdict---Good .
Three and a half stars .

Anwar ( 2007 )



' Anwar ' begins with a tantalizingly mysterious opening . A young man , apparently emotionally scarred and disoriented , gets off a bus in the middle of nowhere and parks himself in a temple for the night . He is obviously disturbed due to some past events .

But he is a muslim !! And he is carrying sketches of hindu gods and temples with him.....
This gives opportunistic politicians the chance to claim that he is a terrorist , and next day the whole thing blows up as a political charade in which chauvinistic politicians try to cash in on the fact that they zeroed in on to this ' terrorist ' .

The chauvinistic politicians are no one else but the hindu nationalists , and from the start it is clear that even though the film has a message , it has an even bigger agenda....
...And the agenda is nothing but demonisation of hindu nationalists....
For they are immediately shown whipping up the communal frenzy and inciting religious passions . Hordes of people in saffron robes are brought near the site where the alleged terrorist is holed up and the scene is set up for an outpouring of anti muslim hatred . A maulavi brought to talk to Anwar openly tells Anwar that ' these people ' ( meaning hindus ) deliberately kill muslims to forget their dire poverty for a short while by indulging in religious fanaticism which distracts attention from their own problems . The whole hindu mob gathered outside the temple is shown to be incited to become thirsty for muslim blood by the politicians .

The police is brought in , and so is the media .
But everyone is involved in some problem in his or her's personal life . The police officer's wife is dying and he is more bothered about her health than the situation outside the temple . The TV anchor ( Manisha Koirala ) is heartbroken over her relationship .

The politician is in a adulterous affair with another man's wife , but as he goes to give her a Valentine's day gift she rejects him . This enrages him and suddenly the Hindu nationalist within him is roused and he orders a brutal campaign against couples celebrating Valentine's day . Oooohh so mean , these hindu nationalists....
And guess who does the politician's paramour move on to after rejecting him ?? His superior in his political party who else !! Oooooh so loose charactered these hindu nationalists.....

And caught in the midst of all this is Anwar , whose past slowly comes out....
And the past is truely sordid....
This dreamy eyed young man has been responsible for 2 deaths....
And he has lost his way in life and stopped at the temple to reflect and repent.....
Siddharth Koirala has put up a remarkable performance as the dreamy eyed young man who dreams of true love , but fails in the ultimate test---that of loving even when rejected by the object of love . Instead he reacts by sheer jealousy and realises his mistake only when it is too late....

His hindu mentor who teaches him to love and longing for love is himself rejected and he ends his life over the rejection.....

So what happens to Anwar ??
Can he find out a way from the crossroads of life ??
What about the confrontation between him inside the temple and the police waiting with guns outside who have been forced to brand him a terrorist ??
Watch the movie for the answers....

So what is the message of the film ??
The message seems to be that everyone is more involved in his personal life rather than bother about communal issues , and it is those with vested interests ( like politicians and media ) who bring a communal angle to our personal issues . Or so I think....

Two songs in the film impressed me greatly---' maula mere ' and ' tose naina lage re ' . I kept on rewinding the parts with these two songs in order to listen to them again and again.....

Nauheed Cyrusi as Anwar's love interest looks good and Hiten Tejwani as her lover acts well . Sudhir Pandey as the politician is impressive as always....

The locations of the film in rural north India and Lucknow city are hauntingly beautiful and realistic as well as dreamily romantic .

Particularly artistic is the way the love between lord Krishna and Meerabai is used in imaginary flashbacks to draw parallels between Anwar's real life and his unfulfilled love . Above all , the director builds up the suspense about what was Anwar's past for a long while and keeps us hooked onto the film .

What I didn't like was the repeated demonisation of hindu nationalists in hindi movies . So unpatriotic....
But I guess I will have to get used to such demonisation as the hindi film industry is dead set against hindu nationalists .
In the end the movie tries to show muslim fundamentalists in a similar light to keep a balance , but that is a case of too little too late....

What I liked was the pace of the film and the mixing of romance with communal issues done very well....

Verdict---decent .

Dhobi ghat ( Laundrymen's ground )



This is a film set in the muslim quarter of Bombay......Mohammad Ali road , where Arun ( played by Amir Khan ) , a brooding painter , comes to live in an old house , and finds old video films left by the former tenant , a muslim young woman .

But before he comes to live there, he has a one-night stand with a rich , vivacious young woman (Monica Dogra ),who has come from USA to film Bombay , and she develops an attraction for him .

Near to Mohammad Ali road is the famous 'Dhobi ghat' of Bombay---the only area in the world which has been demarcated exclusively for laundrymen and washermen to ply their trade . The laundrymen/washermen are called 'Dhobis' in India .

And as Shai ( Monica Dogra ) takes the help of a young dhobhi ( Played by Prateik Babbar ) to film dhobhi ghat so that she can show it on TV to western audiences back in USA , she practically goes dating with him , predictably making him have all sorts of ideas about her ( which guy wouldn't , in such a situation )....and thus a story of sorts begins to develop....

Amir in his house begins to view the old films left by the former tenant , and a sense of mystery begins to overhang the film....you wonder what explosive revelations are going to be in the films....but it is all overshadowed by the melancholy of Amir's character , which works against the film....

And when the revelations come , you are left wondering what connection they had with the main story.....

The other revelation is the 'night profession' of Pratiek---he is a rat killer ( yes , professionals who kill rats which infest cities at nights do exist in India ), a lowly profession that he is ashamed of admitting to Shai out of fear of losing her affection , but she finds out anyway in one of her night outings .

Yes , It is left to Shai ( Monica Dogra ) to lift the film.....and she is the one who does it with a demonstration of such spontaneous acting and natural charm that makes you wish to see her in more films in bollywood in the future , especially because she is so attractive....

Prateik Babbar acts well ,in the role of a muslim boy who allows Shai to take him for a ride , and ends up falling in love with her even though the class differences between them are obviously too much to bridge.

All this does not change the fact that its a dull , though not outright boring film....

Amir Khan is simply too intense , and his acting skills could have been better utilised....

Verdict--you can safely give it a miss......

Side note---The film has no intermission , and the joke going on in Bombay is that the film was deliberately not given an intermission because the audiences who left in the intermission wouldn't have come back.....

Talvar ( Sword ) October 2015



In 2008 a girl was found dead/ murdered in her bed near Indian capital city Delhi . Her name was Aarushi Talvar . Also later the servant of the house ( who was from the neighbouring country of Nepal ) was found dead/murdered too .The police and courts eventually ( after major flip flopping ) convicted her parents . The conclusion of their investigation was that the parents suddenly came upon the sight of the fourteen year old Aarushi having sex with the 40 plus aged servant and were so horrified and shocked that they tried to hit the servant ( who was on top of Aarushi ) on the back of his head with a golf club , but the servant heard the noise of them coming and rolled off her---so the golf club hit Aarushi instead and killed her . But the parents didn't spare the servant and killed him too .

Now this film has come which turns the court's verdict upside down and points the finger to others as the perpetrators of the crime . It is based on the flip flopping on the investigation done by the investigating agencies in real life . It tries to recreate the murder scene and actual events based on accounts told by the various people whose testimonies were taken .

The police who handle the investigation at the start are shown to be most inefficient in their job . The chief policeman is shown to be chewing an Indian eatable called pan ( which contains betelnut and some spicy ingredients enclosed in a leaf ) while actually doing the investigation , and seems to be more engrossed in eating this than doing the investigation . At any rate , he is shown doing this in a most desultory manner because he has not realised that the case would create such a sensation in the media . Also the policemen come from the backward parts of India and looks at the westernized lifestyle of Aarushi's family as decadent .

But the sensation in the media forces the government to hand over the case to the CBI ( Central bureau of investigation ) , which consists of officers who are more professional in their approach and are more sophisticated . Irrfan plays the lead role are CBI officer in charge . This comes at a totally new conclusion based on interviews of suspects under influence of sodium pentothal .

But the CBI head is changed due to retirement of the old head , and the new head wants his own stamp on the investigation . He is shown to make a man in the old investigating team change his sides by promising promotion , and is shown changing entire forensic reports . He again charges the parents of murder---of honour killing in fact .

The two teams of CBI ( both old and new ) are brought in front of each other and the verbal tussle between the two of them is a treat to watch---well timed repartees are given by both sides to the other's points . But the repartees of the first CBI team ( which exonerates Aarushi's parents of the murder ) are better than those of the team opposing them . And therein lies the bias of the film . It is obvious that the whole film has been made to prove that the parents are innocent . The various points in the investigation that point to the parents as killers have been ignored .

Of course , the film is damning towards the CBI and shows the country's premier crime investigating agency as full of politics . It lowers the name and prestige of the CBI dramatically in it's portrayal of the agency . The police are of course shown to be morally corrupt---a fact that is not new to public knowledge . So craven are the police in front of the CBI that CBI officers can even cane them ( as shown in the film ) for mistakes .

So are Aarushi's parents really innocent ?? God only knows....
Of course , the film makes a formidable case for their innocence inspite of it's biases . Irrfan's acting as usual is top class and the film moves at a crisp pace without any frills . It is intelligent cinema without the frills of songs and dance , and will be liked only by educated people .

Verdict---good .
Three and a half stars .

Katyar kaljat ghuslee ( Dagger pierced the heart ) November 2015



I never understood Indian classical music nor ever have listened to it . And this film was publicised to be a heavy duty musical of classical music . But after seeing this movie I almost fancied myself to be a aficionado of it---such is the impact of the music .

Not only music but also the acting and the emotion of the scenes . All the protagonists come together to put such splendid performances that it is hard to criticize even one of them .

The film is based on an old play written and staged 40 years back . But the setting is even more back in time....when kings ruled the land and poets and artists graced their courts .

So in Vishrampur in the 19th century ruled a just king . And his magnificent court was the haven of singers of classical music . But the doyen of the singers was panditji---played by singer Shankar Mahadevan no less . The fireflies would gather glowing the night when he sang , and tears would flow from the listeners' eyes . While other singers merely won applause when they sang , when panditji sang the audience would be mesmerized into silence .

And panditji had a great heart too---when a poor singer ( khansaheb ) came to him , panditji opened the gates of the royal court for him by introducing a contest where he could display his talents . The prize of winning---the post of court singer no less , along with his house . But the Khan could never manage to beat the pandit in singing---and people's taunts hurt him so much that he resolved to kill himself....

But the Khan's wife played a devious game due to which pandit's name fame and fortune went to the Khan . And he also got the permission to use the royal dagger given to him once without getting punished even if he killed anyone with it---a privilege that only the court singer could get .

However , the Khan was not the man panditji was , for he never understood the real purpose of the dagger---which was to kill not any human being but to kill one's ego , for ego is the ultimate destroyer of any artist . And he became a vain man....

The khan's daughter Zareena ( played by Amruta Khanvilkar ) was however good friends with panditji's daughter Uma ( played by Mrunmayee Deshpande ) . Enter a young man ( director Subhod Bhave himself ) , who wants to learn music from panditji and take revenge on the Khan by using the royal dagger . But Zareena calms him down and urges him to beat Khan in singing---for that will be a real revenge that will crush the ego of the Khan . And as she helped Sadashiv ( Subodh Bhave ) in getting closer to his goal , it seemed to be that his different religion was the only hindrance stopping her from falling in love---even though in her heart she knew that he belonged to Uma....

So does the Khan get the comeuppance for his evil deeds ?? Does Sadashiv get to learn the music he wants ??
Watch the movie for that....

Acting wise , the one who comes on top is Sachin Pilgaonkar . He has played Khansaheb with a range of emotions , and has seemingly mastered each of them . But it is music which is king really . The age old traditional music of the land is brought alive like never before for the new generation . The movie is full of songs and music , but I never got tired of them . Both Shankar Mahadevan and Mahesh Kale have put heart and soul in their efforts , which have paid off handsomely .

But what surprised me was the photography and the colours and the beauty of the sets . Watch the river surrounding the city photographed stunningly at the very place it curves to surround the city . Watch as fireflies beautifully light up the night when singers sing . And see the magnificent court of the king with all it's rich detail and colour . And admire the looks of the two young women who love one young man.....Technically the film is just too good . As the film finished , the audience in the jam packed theatre was still not in a mood to go---it was still soaking in the music . Need I say more....

Verdict---Damn good .
Four stars .

Recently, I had watched Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. It is the Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's Family oriented drama film, which is continuing its victory march at the box office. This film is running successfully in theatres and entertaining the fans with good music.

www(dot)Jogimara(dot)com/latest-bollywood-movies

Tamasha ( Performance ) December 2015



This is a film that will appeal to only a niche audience---those denizens of the world who are called by ordinary normal folk as 'filmy' people , at least in India . These are the people who could have done normal 9 to 5 office jobs and earn't regular money , but chose not to . Instead , they chose to follow their dreams and some of them remained strugglers---but they remained steadfast to their goal of being an artist . One of them ( Bollywood actor Anupam Kher ) was once asked what would he have been if he had not got any work as an actor , and he said ''I would have been an actor without work !! '' . It is as simple as that....

In this film director Imtiaz Ali asks us to follow our dreams , and not just remain a cog in a money making machine . He mocks those people who dance on their bosses' tune to earn their daily bread as nothing but robots , and says that their every movement is robotic . Needless to say , his ideas may not appeal to many of us , but he is a dream merchant---the industry he is a part of ( the film industry ) gives him the licence known as cinematic liberty....

So the hero ( Ranbir Kapoor ) grows up watching plays showing epic romances and listening to epic stories told by a story teller....and somewhere in him there is an actor yearning to play a part in them on stage , but his parents and upbringing force him to take up a boring routine job after a routine education . But one day on a vacation to the island of Corsica he meets a like minded person ( Deepika Padukone ) who is not only a beautiful woman but also a free spirit .

They two agree to spend the vacation together without telling each other their real names . So he becomes 'Don'---a gangster from a movie...and she becomes 'Mona darling'---the gangster's moll . And they have a whale of a time together . frolicking and dancing and enacting filmy scenes mouthing filmy dialogues among the friendly people of the island . When he says in the filmy style of erstwhile Bollywood actor Dev Anand that the 'valley of her beauty ( cleavage ) is exposed' she exposes it more by removing her outer clothes rather than cover her modesty . And when he changes his role from 'Don' to agent of interpol , she asks outrageously if the interpol agent has a pole !! They drink the fresh water from streams on the island by putting their mouth in the flowing streams and break into parties and make friends . But at the end of the vacation it is time to kiss and say goodbye....

But back in India Deepika feels that she has found her soulmate and her lifemate in Ranbir , and she would never find anyone like him again....She comes searching for him to a cafe he had mentioned he frequents and finally finds him....
And as they begin to date again , he finally proposes to her in front of his assembled friends....
But Deepika refuses !! She has found that back in India Ranbir is nothing but a money earning robot , a cog in a bread earning machine...a person who does a boring job in a boring office....a person who has lost his vitality in front of his boss and parents and his superiors....a person who takes time to switch off his mobile phone so that calls from his office would not disturb them before becoming physically intimate , rather than a passionate lover....

But Deepika refuses to give up on Ranbir however , for she feels that the Ranbir she met on Corsica was the real Ranbir....and the Ranbir she met in India is just playing the part meant to keep his parents and superiors happy....
She urges him to discover his real self and become an artist again , even if that means giving up on his dreams of climbing up on the corporate ladder.....and thus she sets him on a journey of self discovery....

So where will the journey of self discovery end ? Is Deepika's version of Ranbir his real self ? And will the two live life together ?? Watch the movie for the answer , even though the answer is an all to predictable one....

The first half of the movie is interesting , with Ranbir showing his acting skills amid the gorgeous photography of Corsica ( the streams are so crystal clear and the view of the sun from the rocky coastline is stunning ) and Deepika looking divine as usual....the second half is less interesting and slower paced but the climax is rousing . What I liked was the fact that the director stayed true to the message of the film throughout....Whether that message should be liked or heeded by us is another matter altogether.....after all , not all people are filmy and others may prefer normal humdrum lives...to each his own....

Why I found the film to be decent ?? Maybe somewhere inside me resides a filmy too...after all , I write all these film reviews...

Verdict---decent . Songs and music is good too .
Three stars .

**SPOILER WARNING**

Seen it recently with my wife. And...that's one hell of a depressing ending! As the film was made in favor of the parents and mostly in their 'point of views' so it's really sad to see them get convicted at the end. After watching the film, I briefly checked on wikipedia and read about the original case and how it unfolds. I think it'd be better if they made the film with a neutral point of view & let the audience decide or speculate about whether the convicted parents were actually guilty or what actually happened at that night?!..We may never know the 'actual truth' but the whole case was really gripping as well as disturbing & sad.

R.I.P Aarushi.

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Kabhie Kabhie ( Once upon a time--- 1977 )



This is a movie made by the emperor of romance---Yash Chopra . And it has it's soul in poetry .It's songs are nothing but sheer poetry itself , and as luck would have it they have been embellished with fine music .

Amitabh is a poet . The poetry he makes in college days attracts a young woman ( Rakhee ) to him . And they fall deeply in love . Their love is not the fervour of physical passion but the pleasure of taking long walks in the woods together , of reading poems while in each others arms . Their love is the pure love born out of companionship and out of common interest in poetry .

But fate has other plans for the two . Rakhee's parents want her to marry another man . Rakhee wants to revolt but Amitabh refuses !! He says that he does not want to build his love nest by hurting near and dear ones . He asks Rakhee to marry the person chosen by her parents and asks her to not even recognize him when they cross paths again . Rakhee marries a wealthy businessman ( Shashi ) chosen by her parents and remains loyal to him . At the time of marriage Shashi does not know about Amitabh's relationship with Rakhee and gifts a book of Amitabh's poems to her on their wedding night as he is his fan . The book is titled ' Once upon a time...'

Amitabh may have taken a steely decision to not marry Rakhee but inside he is heartbroken . He decides to renounce poetry altogether and makes one last poem .
Translated into english the poem reads like this---

'' I am a poet of only one or two moments ,
only one or two moments is my youth ,
only one or two moments are my episodes ,
only one or two moments is my story...

Tomorrow their will come others who will make poetry ,
better poetry than me ,
better will be the quality of those who say the poetry ,
better will be the quality of those who listen to it...

The world should not wait for me ,
why waste time on me....''

If Rakhee would have heard this she would have been pained , and pained deeply . She wanted Amitabh to continue poetry even after leaving her and wanted him to become a famous poet . If she had her will then Amitabh's last poem would not be his last and would have read like this---

'' I am a poet of all times to come ,
each future moment is my youth ,
each future moment is my episode ,
and each future moment is my story.... ''

Years pass by and Amitabh marries Waheeda and they have a daughter ( Naseem ) . Amitabh has become a rich man as he has devoted time for his construction business . But what he does not know is the fact that Waheeda has hidden a secret from him---that she had borne an illegitimate child ( Neetu ) from another man before marriage , who had been adopted by a childless couple . And the boyfriend of Neetu is none other than Rishi , who is son of Shashi and Rakhee....

So decades down the line , the two couples are destined to cross each others paths and the two old lovers Amitabh and Rakhee are meant to meet again . The meeting is hastened by the fact that Neetu wants to spend time with her real mother and her boyfriend Rishi wants to spend time with her . So Neetu comes to Amitabh's and Waheeda's house in the guise of a relative and Rishi follows her and takes up a job in Amitabh's construction company to remain close to Neetu . The whole situation comes to boil when Amitabh's and Waheeda's daughter Naseem falls in love with Rishi and wants to snatch him from Neetu bringing the situation close to explosion....

Of all the characters in the film I liked Shashi's the best ; he is a large hearted person who takes the fact that his wife Rakhee loved someone else ( Amitabh ) before meeting him without any hint of jealousy and is ready to make friends with his wife's former lover and share drinks with him without malice . He looks handsome too even in middle age and acts with flamboyance .

Amitabh on the other hand takes the news of his wife's love child Neetu very hard and is pent with bitterness that his wife Waheeda did not tell him of her former relationship . And his daughter Naseem takes it even harder that the person she loves ( Rishi ) is in love with the same person who has caused havoc in their life---her mother's illegitimate child Neetu .

So will Amitabh find the reserves of liberalism and continue his relationship with Waheeda inspite of she having hidden her illegitimate child from him?? After all even had a past relationship with Rakhee didn't he...Or is he just an armchair poet who cannot bring his high philosophical thoughts into action when confronted with real life ?? And will his overpampered daughter Naseem give up her obsession for Rishi and accept that he belongs to her elder step sister Neetu ??

The movie takes a stand against male chauvinism and asks men to accept that their women had relationships in the past before becoming their wives , relationships whose existence they should accept and move on . A love story spanning two generations , the movie has beautiful songs and music and great acting from all protagonists . Obviously it was loved by women of all ages and classes when it was released and went on to become a box office blockbuster....well deserved success , in my opinion .

Verdict---Very good .
Four and a half stars out of five .

Bajirao Mastani ( December 2015 )



'Bajirao Mastani' is the love story of Bajirao the warrior peshwa ( prime minister ) of the hindu maratha empire with mastani who was the princess of a kingdom in north india---muslim daughter of the hindu rajput king's muslim wife . But Bajirao was already married to Kashibai and Mastani became his second wife .

So who was Bajirao ?? To those who haven't seen the film and don't know the history , he was the prime minister of the hindu kingdom of west India called maratha kingdom . His time saw power slipping into the hands of the peshwa as the king was not an active ruler and let Bajirao handle most of his campaigns . Bajirao led the tide of maratha conquest into north India until his forces began to knock on the gates of Mughal empire's capital Delhi by attacking it's suburbs .

Now there have been some objections raised against the film---that the peshwa's first wife has been shown dancing like a dancing girl in the film , and that the great peshwa who was a mighty warrior who won 41 battles without losing any of them has been reduced to just ' lover of Mastani ' . My answer to those objections is---
Even though the peshwa is shown in the film as mainly 'lover of Mastani' he was anyway largely unknown outside west India . The film at least gives publicity to his name all over India and lets north Indian people know that maratha armies once invaded north India to liberate them from Mughal rule . Yes , it is not right to show a royal lady like the peshwa's wife dancing like a dancing girl , but director Bhansali has to sell his film isn't it . Since Bhansali has made such a grand film on a huge budget giving good publicity to Bajirao's name all over India , what is wrong in giving cinematic liberty to him to show a few songs and dances to help his film recover the money spent ?? Nothing is wrong in that .

The thing that strikes you about this film is the absolute grandeur of the settings and beauty of the photography and the lavish scale on which everything has been picturised . The costumes of the maratha warriors are splendid , the rhythm in which they dance is perfect and there is an orgy of colour everywhere . The women look good , the men are smartly dressed , their horses gallop with speed and the orange coloured flags they fly billow in the wind magnificently . The mansions and the palaces and the forts in which the scenes are set look superb . Every scene looks like a work of art---the earthen oil lamps in the vast rooms , the chandeliers , the jewellery and the saris of the women , the flowing robes of the royal men...all has been painstakingly picturised . The battle scenes are less spectacular but good enough .

The first half moves with pace , and it is Mastani ( Deepika Padukone ) who initiates everything---war , peace , love , travel from north india to maratha capital Pune , marriage , confrontation with the peshwa's family , and sacrifice for love . Ranveer Singh looks every inch a peshwa and has made every effort to look like Bajirao himself---the style of walking and talking , the manliness , and above all the arrogance . He fights his enemies with fervour and dances with gusto . His words are sharp and his sword is always gleaming---except when it is reddened by the opponent's blood . His arrows always find their accurate mark .Priyanka Chopra acts as Kashibai and her acting is even better than Deepika and perfectly shows the pain of a wife who has to contend with her husband's philandering---but even in her pain she never loses her dignity . The obnoxious Pune clergy who are always outraged over something ( they are outraged over the film ) are in full form---refusing to accept Mastani because she belongs to a different religion and refusing to give her son a hindu name . Tanvi Azmi has really cut her hair and become bald to play her role as Bajirao's formidable widowed mother---widows were balded in those times to make them unattractive to other men .

In the second half the film becomes tragic and the beauty of the scenes lose some of their sheen . Bajirao seems to fall in love like a warrior rather than lover---with a sense of duty towards his beloved who has come from far to get him and crossed boundaries of religion to meet him . Music cannot be called the strong point of the film . The songs don't impress . But the film does , and should be watched on the large screen to be really enjoyed for it's cinematography .

Verdict---Good .
Three and a half stars .

Chauranga ( The four colours / castes ) January 2016



This is a typical art film made for the international festivals circuit---full of overdosing about the illiteracy and ignorance and crime and above all upper caste prejudice against lower castes and the injustices they inflict upon them in India . The western audience comes to these films to feel good about how fortunate they are to live in the west while Indians are mired in superstition and poverty and backwardness . In return they give some awards to the film in international festivals that are eagerly lapped up by the makers of the film to market their film in India . Even in India the audience who had come to watch the film was similar---mod babes in miniskirts or other flesh showing attire who had come to feel fortunate about being westernised when other Indians were living life in the darkness depicted in the film . The critics in India also have applauded the film---presumably to show how 'liberal' they are to like a film that shows their own kind ( upper caste Indians ) inflict misery upon the lower castes .

So the film is based upon an incident in India ( in Bihar , where else ) where a lower caste boy was killed for having written a love letter to an upper caste girl . Obviously the film makers could hardly let go of the opportunity to make a politically correct film about how upper caste hindus are villains in modern India ; the degree of political correctness being higher if you rant more against them .

So typically , the highest of the castes is shown as most depraved in the film . Yes , the blind village brahmin ( played by Dhritiman Chatterjee ) is so sexually depraved that he gropes the pretty daughter ( played by Ena Saha ) of the landlord of the village ( played by Sanjay Suri ) while she takes him to his home from her house supporting him because he is blind . But on reaching home he also gropes the black goat he keeps in his house !!

The landlord himself is a predator who has a sexual relationship with a lower caste woman called Dhaniya ( played by Tannishtha Chatterjee ) even though he has a wife and daughter . But his goons beat up Dhaniya's son regularly even though the landlord himself finances the son's education in return for Dhaniya's sexual favours . The landlord presides as virtual dictator in a system where lower castes are systematically excluded from any function , and he indeed fosters the system . When a lower caste boy ventures into the village temple , angered upper caste goons dump him into a well badly injuring the boy---but the landlord and the priest are more bothered about purifying the temple because a lower caste person has defiled it .

The situation is ripe for rebellion , and a rebel arises in due course---Dhaniya's younger son Santu ( played by Soham Maitra ) , who refuses to touch the landlord's feet and looks at him and other upper castes with defiance even though the landlord refuses to finance his education for his defiant attitude . And he casts covetous eyes on the landlord's daughter forcing his older brother to write a love letter to her in his ( Santu's ) name which he hands her himself---an act of extreme chutzpah by a lower caste in the upper caste dominated world which the director has created .

So an explosive confrontation is about to occur , but a venomous snake that is always lurking near the village has plans of putting a spanner in the works of everything by coming to the same place where the landlord and Dhaniya are having their session of sizzling sex in the fields outside the village---and the snake comes armed with it's poisonous bite...

So what happens next ?---watch the film for that...

While watching the film I could not but admire the creativity of the film maker and the acting of the actors . No songs are there in the film and the film is only one and a a half hour long . But even the one and a half hour is enough for the film to make an impact---an impact that will leave a foreigner with the most disgusting impression about India . Westerners walking out of foreign film festivals will talk about India as the land of horrible disease and filth . I wondered that if these same film makers had applied their talents ( and the maker of this film is undoubtedly talented ) to show something good about our nation , then they could raise it's worth overseas . But it is sad they use their talents to peddle such degrading impressions about India....

Verdict---Good .
Three and half stars .

Maximum ( 2012 )



In the movie '' The good the bad and the ugly '' there is an iconic dialogue---'' If you want to shoot , shoot . Dont talk ''.....

I wanted to give the same advice to the director of this film.....

....For one goes to the film in the hope of seeing some mind blasting ear shattering heart crunching shooting of criminals and their associates in mindblowing encounters---but what does one get ??? One gets to see endless yak yak---I mean talk---between the various protagonists in the film .

The publicity promised an epic rivalry between two cops for maximum headcount of criminals shot dead in maximum city Mumbai ( bombay ).....

But what one gets is more talk and less action---more of strategising and planning to win the so called '' epic '' rivalry rather than action.....

......And when the shooting does come , there are no dramatic encounters between cops and criminals---bus press the trigger on the criminal and that's all.....he's dead.....

And the rivalry is shown over a period spanning years and increasing with time---a slow burn rather than an explosion......

The rivalry starts in 2003 when ladies bars ( bars where female dancers danced in front of customers ) were part of the night scene of Mumbai.....and that gives the director of the film the chance to show some chammiyas in action.....and also brings nostalgic memories of nights spent ogling at the dancing beauties of Tandoor bar to your very own Ashdoc.....I could almost feel the tears of nostalgia well up in my eyes---where is my Mumbai of the bygone days ??

Anyway the ladies bar scene gives the chance to the director to showcase the '' aa ante amlapuram '' song with a mouthwateringly well endowed dancer----but he ruins it by showing the song incomplete....what a waste....
He had a potentially superhit song in his hands and he smashed it !!
For those who want the complete song hear the original version in south indian language.....
I wish the director of the original song was dead so that i could use the phrase '' he would have turned in his grave '' but he is most probably alive

To come back to the story Sonu Sood is the north indian cop and Naseeruddin Shah is the south indian one----and both are backed by politicians of their communities mirroring the rivalry between the south indians and north indians for control of the city. Also various officers in the department side with either cop. The two cops also kill each others informers so that the other gets less info about criminals .But the rivalry lacks zing and substance---no fun in seeing it.....

Sonu has a educated but traditional wife in actress Neha Dhupia---and she looks beautiful enough in sarees to make me dream about women in my life ( who dont wear sarees ) wearing them.....good acting from her.....
But Sonu still has the affair on the sly with bollywood starlets and his wife has to forgive them like a traditional indian wife....what else can she do ??
I will tell what I would have done if I had such a wife.....I would have QUIT going to ladies bars and QUIT meeting bollywood starlets....but Sonu does not have ashdoc's heart ( I still wish I had his wife ).....

Finally towards the end there is some real fighting.....maybe the director woke up to the fact that his film lacked powerpacked fisticuffs---but he woke too late.....
And between whom is the fighting towards the climax?? between cops and criminals ?? naah....
Its between cops and cops and with politicians thrown in between for good measure.....the rivalry has got a little too bitter.......

Verdict----out of five stars how much should I give the film ?? maximum ?? baah !!! I would rather give minimum.....

Wazir ( Queen of chess ) January 2016



On the chess board , wazir is the most dangerous opponent . It can literally make and break a game . So in a movie where the main protagonists play chess , it is ideal that the villain who breaks lives should be called wazir , isn't it ?? So in this movie anti terrorism officer Daanish Ali ( Farhan Akhtar ) has to confront the villain wazir ( Neil Nitin Mukesh ) , who is playing havoc with his friend Pandit Omkarnath Dhar's ( Amitabh Bachchan ) life . How he comes to the confrontation is a convoluted tale in itself....

Danish loses his daughter in a gunfight with terrorists from Pakistan , and his crusade for revenge costs him his job , for he is suspended . But his loss is far worse , because he also is now reviled by his wife ( Aditi Rao Hydari ) because he involved his daughter in an anti terrorist gunfight . By coincidence he comes into contact with Omkarnath , who bonds with him over games of chess and tells him of his own daughter's death in mysterious circumstances at the home of a Kashmiri politician . Danish decides to confront the politician and the politician responds by sending a person to terrorize Omkarnath---who else but wazir....

So who is this mysterious entity called wazir ? What is the mystery of the death of Omkarnath's daughter ? Is the kashmiri politician guilty ? Will Danish be able to uncover the truth ?
Watch the movie for the answers....

The movie has a powerful start with good action sequences , but drags in the middle---until the appearance of wazir....then again the movie picks up pace as wazir ignites the proceedings....

But there are too many coincidences in the film , and many of the happenings appear way too filmy because they are too convenient for the storyline to proceed . You lose interest in some parts , though other parts of the film are interesting . The movie moves from Delhi to the flashpoint of the subcontinent---Kashmir what else , where the final fight takes place .

But we are left with a real surprise in the end....yes , it is the end that packs the real punch and injects much needed zing to the movie . And what happens at the end ? Well I am not about to reveal that....
But it is the climax that makes you feel that the movie is good .

The photography is decent , but no great shots are shown . Actually Kashmir in winter would have made the perfect setting for great photography , but the director was more concerned about action . Background music is okay . But the songs are very good , and after some time an action/suspense movie had good songs . Some of them are worth listening again and again .

Acting is okay from everyone , and as usual Amitabh steals the honours .
Aditi Rao Hydari looks stunningly delicate and fair and so lovely---she would be the ideal model for 'fair and lovely' cream !! Her flowing dresses have been wonderfully designed .

The theme of the movie is chess , and the player who uses wazir for achieving his goal is a deft player on the chess board . But this is the deadly chess board of life and death , and wrong use of the wazir can have fatal consequences indeed....

Verdict---Very decent .
Three stars .

i forgot to add that amitabh is playing a physically disabled person on wheelchair in the film , and that aditi rao hydari looks so good even though she is in her mid thirties---not a trace of age on her !!