Movie Review – The Avengers

 

The Super Cool Summer Movie

 Before the Avengers assembled we’ve had 2 Iron Man, 2 Hulk, 1 Thor & 1 CaptainAmericamovies. Black Widow was seen in Iron Man 2 and Hawk Eye makes a first time appearance in this one. If you do the math it is pretty clear that to get The Avengers right the director has to get Hulk and Iron Man right. Iron Man is safe in the good command of Robert Downey Jr. but Hulk was the only character that never peaked in spite of two actors (Eric Bana & Edward Norton) trying to nail it in two different movies. For me the biggest triumph of The Avengers is Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/ The Hulk. He is the best Hulk yet.

 What’s it about? – For those who have not followed the series, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) brother of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) lands up on earth searching for a cube that will help him rule the earth. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has to stop him so he assembles Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), The Hulk (Mark Rufalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson), Hawk Eye (Jeremy Renner), CaptainAmerica(Steve Rogers) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to stop Loki.

 How is it? – Paisa vasool entertainment.

 My Take – Like I mentioned above Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/ The Hulk is the bestest part of the movie. You have to be patient enough for The Hulk to appear. His entry is almost after an hour but Mark Ruffalo prepares the perfect build up as Bruce Banner with his restrained and almost vulnerable portrayal of a character struggling with his condition. The second best thing is the humor. Joss Whedon gives all the characters some really witty lines to deliver. Since most part is about the Avengers coming together the humor helps in keeping the audience engaged especially those who are not well versed with the back stories of each individual superhero. Out of the all the superheroes I was only interested in Robert Downey Jr and Mark Rufalo. The rest were great supporting actors at their best.  The icing on the cake is the last 30 mins when the film peaks as a special effects loaded summer blockbuster movie. If you look at director Joss Whedon’s filmography you’ll wonder what made the studios trust him with a rumored 220 million dollar budget film. Now, that is the story I am very interested in knowing! He is the only guy I know who has taken a giant leap from T.V to the big screen.

 Word of mouth – The Avengers is an ultimate 2 super hero (The Hulk and Iron Man) movie with a fantastic supporting cast of 4 (Black Widow, Hawk Eye, Thor and Captain America).

Rating – **** (Very Good)

 Ticket Meter – Worth any amount of money

 P.S. – If you have it playing in an Imax theatre drop everything and make an effort to watch it there. The fun just multiplies with the Imax experience.

first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com

Movie Review – Tezz

Zzzzzzzzzz

 In an interview Priyadarshan said this about Tezz “it is slightly on the lines of a James Cameron film”. He also said “I have given it an emotional angle as well, some what on the lines of Deewar and Sholay”. Some filmmakers seriously live in an alternate universe.

 What’s it about? –  There’s a bomb on the London Glasgow train and if the speed goes below 60 miles the bomb will blow off. Ajay Devgn (an illegal immigrant) has planted the bomb and Anil Kapoor (cop) and Boman Irani (railway chief) have to stop the train from blowing up.

 How is it? – Blah

 My take – Inspired/copied from the 1975 Japanese film The Bullet Train Tezz is a master class in bad casting. Can you really believe Anil Kapoor can do parkour or atleast look believable doing it? Can you believe that Mohanlal and his weight can withstand standing in the middle of a ladder kept between two trains running at high speed? There were times when I believed that the stunt scenes on screen were done by stars themselves then I grew up. The stunts in this film are aimed at those kids who still believe in that theory but I assume kids nowadays are much smarter. All the actors do their job with sincerity but what comes across is anything but a sincere attempt at a thriller. The only saving grace is that unlike recent Priyadarshan ‘filmed’ comedies this one doesn’t grate your nerves. This is the kind of film which will be watched in saloons if it’s coming on a Hindi movie channel. There are lot of lines in English which is badly translated into Hindi and dubbed like howHollywoodmovies are dubbed into Hindi. After RGV now its Priyadarshan’s turn to make a joke out of Mohanlal. At least Players was entertaining. This is not even that. By the end of it I did find the Deewar/Sholay emotional angle a bit but couldn’t find James Cameron. If anyone finds it please let me know.

 Word of Mouth – Tezz is like a B grade action thriller dubbed in Hindi for UTV Action.

 Rating – ** ( Below Average)

 Ticket Meter – Worth 100 bucks

First appeared on http://www.desimartini.com

Movie Review – Vicky Donor

Feel Good Sperm

In the early 2000’s I had a regular job, was not writing reviews but was still watching movies FDFS. I had figured out an instant test to rate if a movie was really good. The test was that if after coming out of the theatre I was in such a happy state of mind that I felt like taking a day off from work and just day dream about the film that I just saw, that film was good. Vicky Donor reminded me that the test still holds up well.

What’s it about? – Vicky Arora (Ayushmann Khurrana) is a good for nothing who lives with his mom Dolly (Dolly Ahluwalia) and Biji (Kamlesh Gill). He is spotted by Dr. Chadha (Annu Kapoor) who is looking for a healthy Sperm Donor. After much persuasion he Vicky is convinced into the business of Sperm Donation. The business starts booming, money starts flowing but then Vicky falls in love with Aushima (Yami Gautam) and then…

How is it? – Good.

My take – Half of the films screen time is spent on the day to day life, interaction between Vicky and his family, Dr. Chaddha trying to convince Vicky to become a sperm donor and Vicky’s attempt in wooing Aushima. These parts are where the film peaks with its energy. The interaction between Dolly and Biji are the high points in the film followed by Vicky’s interactions with Dr. Chaddha. The film scores in tackling a subject like Sperm donation with utmost ease without an ounce of vulgarity or sleaze. The performances and the dialogues are what stayed with me after the film was over. When you see a good film and tell your friends about it most of the times you talk about the characters, the scenes you liked and the lines that cracked you up. This film has plenty of those.  It is only when the conflict comes into the picture that the film loses its energy and is hurried towards a predictable ending. After that gem of a debut in Yahaan, Shoojit Sircar gives us a feel good film written brilliantly by Juhi Trivedi. Even though at times I feel fatigued by bollywood’s obessesion withDelhiand Punjabi, a film like this comes along and still makes it work. Minor quibble that crosses your mind is that Vicky’s character has no grey area and he screams only once throughout the film and that too at his uncle. But since you are enjoying the ride so much you tend to ignore such minor flaws because there are so many things that work including a laugh out loud wedding sequence not seen in Hindi Cinema since Monsoon Wedding.

Word of mouth – Iss film ka sperm count correct hain. A film about sperms that is fit for family viewing.

Rating – *** ½ (Good)

Ticket Meter – Worth 200 bucks.

 

first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com

Movie Review – Hate Story

Dam Maaro Dam

 Paoli Dam, Sex and Gulshan Deviah were three reasons I was looking forward to Hate Story.  It projected itself as an erotic thriller. My introduction to erotic thrillers happened during school days in the matinee shows at Pinky and Shaan. And the last erotic thriller I remember but haven’t seen that came out in Hindi cinema was Red Swastik starring Sherlyn Chopra. This one introduces Paoli Dam to the Hindi filmy duniya. She can be best described in one word for people who don’t know her and that is “Chatrak”. Chatrak’s one scene is my only introduction to Paoli Dam and many of you will now Google chatrak if you have not seen or heard about it, NOW! Okay, now that you are back after googling let’s talk Hate Story.

 What’s it about? – Kavya Krishna (Paoli Dam) fucks (metaphorically and literally) Siddharth Dhanrajgir (Gulshan Devaiah) but Sid’s philosophy in life is “I fuck the people who fuck with me” after realizing that she has been used Kavya decides “main iss shaher ki top ki r*&di bannna chahti hoon” and thus begins her Hate Story.

 How is it? –  Not bad

 My take – If you are expecting an edgy, erotic and out of the box film you will be highly disappointed. The film is a regular revenge story which engages in parts especially when Paoli Dam is on screen with fewer clothes on. It takes too much time to set the story into motion but thankfully doesn’t derail. The 2^nd half is much better than the 1^st. The erotica fizzles out thanks to the censor board and the makers playing it safe. Gulshan Devaiah works hard in carrying off his first full fledged role but this performance is way behind TGIYB, Dum Maaro Dum and Shaitan in that particular order. Vivek Agnihotri erases his past mistakes called Chocolate and Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal and starts a new innings with Hate Story. Wish he was bolder and riskier with this subject. Finally it is Paoli Dam’s show all the way. She is like a chameleon that can change colours from being vulnerable to looking extremely hot and sensuous.

 Word of mouth – Two words to flock to the theatres Paoli Dam.

 Rating – **

 Ticket meter – Worth 100 bucks

first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com

Revisiting Mission Kashmir

Blogging has helped me keep a record of my memories associated with movies. Some I have lost and some are still distinctly etched in my brain. Like I can still very clearly remember the day I watched Mission Kashmir. The film had released on Oct 27 2000. The same day Mohabbatein had released. I remember watching Mohabbatein in Chandan for the noon show and straight after that show I rushed towards Cinemax Goregaon to catch the 4.30pm show of Mission Kashmir. This film was coming after Kareeb which left me disappointed at that point but much later worked for me. I guess at the age of 23 I was expecting VVC to only make hard hitting movies. I couldn’t digest a love story from him even though the music was and still holds up well.

Coming back to Mission Kashmir, before watching the movie I was excited about it because I felt VVC was in familiar territory. The trailer had worked especially that last shot of Hrithik screaming and shooting. Don’t remember how many times we used to play the trailer just to indulge in that last shot. I think it was Hrithik Roshan’s third film after Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. This was ‘THE’ Sanjay Dutt film that was looked forward to after Vaastav. After Parinda and 1942 A Love Story Jackie Shroff working with VVC was highly anticipated. I don’t remember how the film worked at that time but I liked it.

Memories of MissionKashmir:

–       The things that left me impressed were how the scenes were designed

–       The way it was shot and the background score.

–       Good performance by Hrithik Roshan and one of Sanjay Dutt’s most understated performance

–       The much talked about scene which apparently was shot during real curfew time

–       The Climax set that was built inFilmCity.

–       That shot when Hrithik comes to Preity’s house and just when he is leaving in slow motion he looks at the painting and the song begins. What a moment!

Cut to 31^st March 2012

My thoughts on the revisit

–       The film is still engaging and worth watching on the big screen

–       That entire Hrithik and Preity love track should go out.

–       Hrithik should have played Altaf without that macho muscle flexing heroism.

–       Where the fuck is Sanjeev Rattan who played Gafoor (the Kahwa guy) also Vineet Sharma (goli maar dooon tujhe maadarzaat. Hindu!!!)

–       Jackie Shroff and his constant bachcha bachcha doesn’t work. In fact it irritates.

–       This is still that only film in which PuruRajkumar was good.

–       Vidhu Vinod Chopra still owes us a layered and personal film onKashmir.

–       Didn’t know that Anurag Kashyap was 2^nd Unit Director (Kashmir)

–       Some of the scenes get too loud and theatrical now.

–       The earlier chota Hrithik, Sanjay, Sonali portion is still the emotional core of the film.

But still watching this film especially from the craft point of view is still a rewarding experience.