Bollywood 

Film: Ishaqzaad; Director: Habib Faisal; Rating: ** 

Ishaqzaade is a sexist film. It is strictly an average film in spite of a sparking performance from Parineeti Chopra. The film has some things going for it. To start with the director Habib Faisal has created realistic character and real dialogues. Sadly, it is also an alarmingly regressive film. 

The story of Ishaqzaade is set in a fictional town of Almore. It is a story of two political families, the Chauhans and the Qureshis. They keep fighting for everything including political office. The director Faisal had directed Do Dooni Chaar and wrote dialogues for Band Baaja Baaraat, giving both of them an earthy feel. Even in this film that touch is there. The dialogues are well written.

Parineeti Chopra plays the role of Zoya, a feisty heroine of the film. She shows promise in the first half, though she is reduced to a caricature in the second half. The sexist overtones of the film in the second half make the film less enjoyable. Arjun Kapoor plays Parma, a goon of some kind, not like any hero of a film. He seriously needs some lessons in dialogue delivery. His negative character has no redeeming qualities. One night when Parma storms the Qureshi house for abducting a dance-girl named Chanda. The drama starts the moment he slaps Zoya, who sets out to take revenge with the help of his brothers.

Parineeti Chopra plays her part well, though Kapoor had not much to do in the film. He looked raw in many scenes. Supporting actors are good.

The film has good cinematography. Some times dialogues seem over-written. In the second half there is much abuse of the heroine. It seems sexist many times. There is also a non-sensitive item song.

Ishaqzaade is good only in parts.

Film: Jannat 2: Director: Kunal Deshmukh; Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Randeep Hooda, Esha Gupta; Rating: **

Jannat 2 is not a sequel of the 2008 hit film Jannat. The maker of the film had earlier named it Informer but changed the name later to create a buzz around the film. How convenient!

This film is also about a moral dilemma faced by Emraan Hashmi, the lead actor of the film. The story is about Sonu Dilli (Hashmi), a local gun-seller in the Capital, who is bullied by a tough cop to become a police informer. That cop Pratap role is played by Randeep Hooda. Pratap is obsessed with taking down the arms mafia because as his wife was killed by someone wielding an illegal gun.

A newcomer Esha Gupta, plays the role of a doctor, who Sonu falls for. Esha accepts Sonu’s marriage proposal without a background check, when he gives her money for her hospital. The film had promise of an underworld thriller, though it falls in its second half. There are not many edge-of-the-seat moments. After the intermission the film becomes quite predictable. You could guess each and every twists and turns of the story then.

The film still has some good scenes. All scenes of Hashmi and Hooda are watchable. The film has two thrilling foot chase scenes, that are enjoyable. The second chase scene filmed in crowded lanes of a dargah is immensely watchable. Emraan Hasmi is predictable and comfortable in his role. He played the role as he did in many similar films. Hooda has performed nicely. He should been more supported by the author.  Esha Gupta disappoints as showing body is not acting. She was showing cleavage all the time.

Overall Jannat 2 is an average film.

Film: Tezz; Direction: Priyadarshan; Actors: Anil Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Boman Irani; Rating: **

Tezz is another potboiler by film director Priyadarshan. As in his last some films he has not bothered to give anything new to the audience. The whole plot and sequences have been shamelessly copied from Bullet Train, a Japanese film made in 1975. Writers Priyadarshan and Robin Bhatt have done a shameless job of copying the story.

Like Bullet Train, in Tezz, too, a bomb has been planted on a train moving from London to Glasgow, which will blow up if the train slows down. The mastermind of this bomb planting idea is an illegal immigrant Aakash (Ajay Devgn) who has planted the bomb to take revenge on the UK authorities. The UK government had evicted Aakash, separating him from his pregnant wife. He also has two accomplices in the dirty job.

Arjun Khanna (Anil Kapoor) has been given the job to handle Aakash. Sadly, most of the film is about one-upmanship between Aakash and Arjun Khanna. In the second half, the speeding train is completely forgotten. Aakash also makes ransom demands in between. Boman Irani plays the role of a traffic controller in the film and seems like giving not even half of his efforts to the film. To up the emotional quotient, his daughter is shown on the moving train, planted with the bomb.

Sameera Reddy, playing an accomplice of Aakash, gets to show her ridings skills.  Amid all this, there is a item song by Mallika Sherawat in Desi Club, a disco in London. It looks stale and out of nowhere.

Mohan Lal, a fine actor was given a cameo of a cop helping people move out of the planted train to another train. His character had not much to offer anyway.

The only good thing about the film is its action, choreographed by Gareth Milne and coordinated by Peter Pedrero.

Film actor Aamir Khan has fulfilled his promise of attending marriage of the son of a rickshaw driver based in Varanasi. The film star had made this promise some years back while promoting his film 3 Idiots in the city.

The rickshaw driver was overcome with emotions on the occasion. His entire area was buzzing when Aamir arrived to attend the wedding. Hundreds of people had gathered at the venue to have a glimpse of the Lagaan star.

Aamir reached Varanasi after attending an event organized by a national daily in Patna. Aamir also tasted the famous Bihari dish litti chokha at the gate no. 1 of the Sanjay Gandhi zoological park in the city. Huge crowds gathered once the word spread that the super star was in the town, Soon hundreds of fans and media person jostled for a glimpse of the star. Seeing the growing crowd, Aamir Khan quietly made an exit after waving at the crowd.

Film: Vicky Donor; Director: Shoojit Sarcar; Actors:  Ayushman Khurana, Annu Kapoor; Rating:****

Vicky Donor is an enjoyable film. Well written and well-performed, this is one of the best films of this year.

The film is made on the issue of sperm donation. There are some couples who are not able to bear babies and they need sperm donation by someone. It is an issue people don’t like to talk about openly. Hopefully this film will help people become more open about the issue.

Vicky Arora (Ayushman Khurana) is a jobless youth living in Lajpat Nagar in Delhi. He is a happy-go-lucky guy. He lives with his grandmother Beeji (Kamlesh Gill) and mother, Dolly (Dolly Ahluwalia), who runs a beauty parlour in the city.  He is convinced by Dr Chaddha (played by convincing Annu Kapoor) to make money by donating his sperm to people.

Dr Chaddha is under pressure to find a sperm donor as his clinic is under threat of closure. He targets Vicky after knowing that his forefather sired 19 children. Vicky is initially reluctant as he doesn’t like babies. Ashima Roy (Yami Gautam) plays his Love interest in the film.

The writer of screenplay and dialogues Juhi Chaturvedi has done a fabulous job. The dialogues are so enjoyable. Many scenes are bound to make you laugh loudly. One particular scene has Vicky’s mother and grandmother argue after drinking is quite funny.

The film has Punjabi background, that makes it have a certain Delhi flavor.

The director of the film, Shoojit Sarcar has done a great job. All actors have given competent performances. Ayushman Khurana is very much convincing and so is Annu Kapoor. Both have a loving and sparing relationship, which is enjoyable. Even songs of the film fit very well in the scheme of the things.

Overall a winner of a film!

Film: Bittoo Boss; Director: Supavitra Babul; Cast: Pulkit Samrat, Amita Pathak; Rating: *

Bittoo Boss is a boring film. People may feel it’s similar to Band Baaja Baraat, though it lacks the spark of that film. It’s not cool or spunky as shown in trailers.

It’s a story of a small town boy Bittoo (Pulkit Samrat), who has big dreams.  He has made a name as a videographer and dreams to made movies one day. In a desperate attempt to achieve success, he goes into the murky world of blue film making. He shoots videos of random couple for making money. As expected as a film hero his conscience awakens later. Bittoo meets the heroine at a wedding and then keeps chasing her. The film also suffers from a lack of palpable chemistry between the lead characters. The romance track comes across as forced in the film.

The film story fails to hold attention. The heroine goes missing in the second part. The climax shows Bittoo finding his heroine by busting a blue film racket. How stupid!

Pulkit Samrat playing Bittoo shows some promise though he is let down by the script. He also seems to have a hangover of Ranbir Kapoor. Amita Pathak as a lead heroine seriously needs acting classes. The background score of the film doesn’t seem to compliment the proceedings on the screen. The debutant film director Supavitra Babul fails to impress us. He doesn’t impress either through writing or direction.

Film: Housefull 2; Director: Sajid Khan; Cast: Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Riteish Deshmukh, Shreyas Talpade, Asin, Jaqueline Fernandes, Zarine Khan, Shazhan Padamsee, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Mithun Chakrabarthi; Rating: **

After being highly criticised for Housefull, Sajid Khan, who tasted commercial success for the movie, is back with yet another nonsensical, humourous trip. Riding with an even bigger star cast, this time round Sajid made sure he left no stone unturned to promote his latest directorial venture, Housefull 2.

Judging by his previous record, one wouldn’t expect a lot from a Sajid Khan movie. His main aim, as accepted by him, is to entertain, whether done by corny dialogues or an intelligently written script.

Before you read the review, you must know that there is no storyline to the movie. All that exists is confusing sequences put together. Then again, that’s what Sajid Khan is best known for! If you still insist, here it is... Dabboo (Randhir Kapoor) and Chintu (Rishi Kapoor) are step brothers who can’t stand each other and are hell-bent on finding the richest husbands for their daughters, Bobby (Jaqueline Fernandes) and Henna (Asin) respectively. Jai (Shreyas Talpade) and one of UK’s richest man, JD (Mithun Chakraborty’s) son Jolly (Ritesh Deshmukh) devise to send Max (John Abraham) and Sunny (Akshay Kumar) to each of the Kapoors’ house as JD’s son. By the second half of the movie, all the characters land up in the same house and the confusion turns into a turmoil. You’d expect the film to begin with a bang, but it sets off as boring and forceful.

Despite an ensemble cast, Akshay Kumar carries the film on his shoulders. His scenes are amusing, if not uproarious. John Abraham tries too hard to bring a laugh, but fails miserably. However, his chemistry with Akshay proves to be a strong point for the film. The duo’s sequences together are quite entertaining. Ritesh, as a young Marathi bachelor, is funny and does justice to his role. Shreyas Talpade is under-utilised.

Rishi and Randhir Kapoor have done their best. However, one fails to understand their casting because they do not suit the characters. The four female leads do not have much to do and serve only as eye candy. Mithun Chakraborty has a small role but plays it remarkably with complete dignity.

The movie is definitely not a laugh-riot, but it doesn’t fail to bring out chuckles in bits. In various parts, the director has tried very hard to force a laugh, but fails to bring out even a smile. The first half is fun, yet disappointing for a movie that promises to be a hilarious hoopla. The second half starts with entertaining portions, but the excitement takes a back seat as it proceeds. The climax is stretched, yet acceptably amusing in parts. Infused in generous portions are Action sequences which are more entertaining than the comedy.

The storyline is weak and predictable but does justice to add to the confusion the director aimed to create. The dialogues are witty, but fall flat on most occasions when combined with the weak script. The main characters have been given their individual traits, each of which brings a cheer.

The songs are the high point of the movie. Anarkali disco chali and Pappa toh band bajaayein are definite chart toppers. The background score is normal and in-sync with the movie genre.

In the end, one does agree there is a genre called madcap Comedy and intelligence has nothing to do with it. Yet again, you cannot question the sensibility of the cine-goers today and all one demands from movies today is reasonable humour.

Go in with a promise that you’ll be entertained, but don’t expect an exhilarating journey.

Director Rajkumar Hirani is set to make his next film with Aamir Khan. He has confirmed the news that he has already written the scrip of his next film tentatively titled “PK.” The last film directed by Hirani was the monster success 3 Idiots.

Aamir Khan has already hinted that the Shooting of the film may start in October this year. Hirani has taken around 3 years to write for his next film. He has informed media that the film script is in it last stage and some pre-production work will have to be done before the shooting begins. Without giving much detail about the film, he has said that the film will be his kind of film with a social message.  The film will be produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

There are some reports that even the other two idiots Sharman Joshi and Madhavan will star in the upcoming film. The music director Shantanu Moitra will also be retained in the film.

Film: Blood Money; Directed by: Vishal Mahadkar; Cast: Kunal Khemu, Amrita Puri, Manish Chaudhari; Rating: *1/2

The film’s name Blood Money is obviously inspired by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Blood Diamond, and the hero here is shown to be dealing in diamonds too.

But don’t let any of this fool you to expect any sparkling moments in this one. Treading on the tried and tested, the story revolves around a young couple Kunal (Kunal Khemu) and Arzoo (Amrita), who leave behind their struggling apparently lower middle-class Mumbai life and move to Cape Town, after Kunal lands a cushy job in a diamond firm.

It’s made clear early on that the boss (Manish) is actually a diamond kingpin with enough shady dealings with the mafia and terrorists to put him on Interpol’s wanted list, but for his simple businessman cover that keeps the cops at bay.

Our hero is clearly unaware of them though, well, initially at least. It’s all too good to be true for the young couple as they take in their huge bunglow and the perks and Arzoo says she is waiting for the wicked witch to pop in their Hansel and Gretel like fairytale of a life. And she is right too.

Only here, the witch is the choice, an ambitious Kunal is faced with: Follow his dreams or give it all up to side with what’s right. The choice made, Kunal starts his ascent to the top at break-neck speed, while his personal life spirals downwards at the same pace (Jannat anyone??). Hubby makes work priority, gets some Action in an office party, wifey gets bored at home and the audience in theatres.

Khemu is known to be a good performer, and his act usually finds takers even if his films don’t, but here despite an earnest performance, he just fails to make his character endearing. Manish’s villainish act is anything but ‘superb’ a phrase that he mouths often and is more suited for TV soaps, while Amrita’s cutesy act is ruined by the dialogues that she has to dole out.

Others in supporting cast too are barely impressive. The film remains consistently boring through the end and has absolutely no element that would hook the audience’s interest. The songs don’t make you move or feel, nor do the utterly uninspiring dialogues and the immature handling of clichéd situations makes it further unbearable.

Film: Agent Vinod; Director: Sriram Raghavan; Rating: **

The film unfolds like a checklist that by now almost feels mandatory for any spy flick in the genre. So there are RAW agents, ISI spies, Russian arms dealers, Afghani terrorists, Arabic millionaire, African warlords, the touch of Moroccan exotica, car chases, cross-continent money laundering, high-octane action, the chicks and the bikes, the threat of nuclear disaster, bombs and secret codes, plots and sub-plots, power nexus between the top brass, and of course the suave spy with his gorgeous leading lady, both of who manage to look good right through their escapades across countries. If there’s anything missing here, then it’s the gadgets that Bond and those of his ilk never have a shortage of. Our desi Bond, however, has to make do with guns alone, not that it dims the Action though.

Sure enough, the film starts on a high note in Afghanistan with Agent Vinod (Saif) getting into a fast-paced action mode from the word go (and a superb background score that sets the tempo). But then on, the film gets as wobbly as the cobbled streets of Morocco where the action then shifts. The mission not-so-impossible here is to get hold of a nuclear bomb. Along this chase of baddies, Vinod meets Dr Ruby aka Iram (Kareena), an ISI agent, who supposedly should’ve been hard to figure whether she’s on the good side or bad. But then our hero solves that Puzzle instantly, ‘Tumhari aankhein maar sakti hain, par tum nahin. You don’t have the eyes of a killer’. Yes, good girls don’t kill, she reiterates a few minutes later, when asked to kill someone as proof of faith.

Saif is in his best form, looking suave and convincing as a desi spy. There are moments when the raw appeal seems to be compromised on for maintaining the hot quotient, but Saif's effortless cool manages to keep your mind off them. Kareena, however, though looking gorgeous, suffers in the skin of an unconvincing character, who shuttles between being an ISI agent and a vulnerable damsel in distress. The rest of the star cast is impressive including Ram Kapoor in his Russian avatar and Adil Hussain as the no-nonsense Colonel.

The high production quality and slick treatment is undoubtedly almost at par with international standards beating some of the most stylised action flicks back home. Never mind that the train sequence and the opening jail sequence are reminiscent of spy thrillers you’ve seen before, the bhel-puri here is as desi as the dish itself. The shoot-out sequence with a romantic track in the background was interestingly done, but the others follow the Bollywood grind.

On the downside, what doesn’t work is the weak plot and it is that weak chink in the armour that fails to hold all the strong elements together that could make it a riveting watch. The script should’ve been crispier, to do justice to it’s ambitious, high production value. With predictable twists and forced uncomplicated sub-plots and not so required elements and characters, you know it’s time to send logic out early on and you see yourself lose interest at some points. The stereotypical characters fail to make it interesting too.

The film shines in some parts and shows sparks of potential of being the desi answer to the Bournes and the Bonds, but without the backing of a strong plot, it falls short this time.