Gang of Ghosts (Hindi 2014)

Most Satish Kaushik movies are fraught with corny lines that make your cringe.  Usually he is also in front of the camera to delivery these liners in his typical poetic manner but this time around he decides to stay behind.  Let’s have a look at some of these vignettes from Shri Kaushik’s latest release – Gang of Ghosts.

R... Rajkumar

I have always been a fan of Prabhu Dheva's work primarily because he is committed to the genre of masala movies. Committed to the extent that he has chosen to do high quality work in this field. I was amongst the few who really liked the way Rowdy Rathod was executed. The attention to detail, the consistency of script, keeping it larger than life and yet very grounded, usage of right doses of good quality humour - all hallmarks of a good PD movie.

Himmatwala (1983)

With Sajid Khan about to ruin everything that K. Raghavendra Rao did 30 years back, I thought it was only appropriate that I try to get a dekko at the original that many of us saw with great pride and excitement on colour TV after 1983 on doordarshan.  The lucky would have seen the movie on the big screen.  It was a luxury back then.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa

It took 14 years for Priyadarshan to probably gather to courage – because that’s what it would have taken a lot of – to remake a movie that he was a Second Unit Director.  To his credit, he is the only one out of the 3 in the movie who managed to make a move into Bollywood. 

 

But needless to say, he doesn’t emulate the magic that Fazil created on screen in 1993 with the national award winning Manichitratazhu (read as Mani Chitr tayu).  A movie that coincidentally has been fodder for remakes galore – Apthamitra in Kannada, Chandramukhi in Tamil and Telugu (dubbed), Rajmohol in Bengali, and of course the topic of this write up in Hindi.

 

The only reason I can think of as to why these movies fell short was the incapability to handle the topic with the seriousness that it required.  Of course the character played by Akshay Kumar – Aditya Srivastava – does have a humourous streak in him and enjoys playing the fool.  But I guess AK did a bit too much in his attempt to tell the audience that his comic timing is still alive.

 

Siddharth Chaturvedi (Shiney Ahuja) & Avni (Vidya Balan) are a newly married couple.  Sidhharth comes from a royal family and is actually the incumbent king of the village.  He has, however just returned from the states where he got married to Avni.  He had been there for his studies.  Upon Avni’s insistence and a little bit of his own desire, he decides to stay in his ancestral palace.

 

However, the resident spirit of the home doesn’t take too kindly to their stay.  A danseuse – Madhulika – who used to perform at the palace many moons ago is in love with Shashidhar (Vineeth) – the royal poet.  The fact doesn’t go too lightly with the Maharajah who in a fit of jealousy, executes the poet. 

 

Madhulika in turn commits suicide but before that puts a curse on the palace – no Maharajah will ever reside in the palace or else I will be the cause of his death.  To date, the curse stands.  And when Siddharth moves in, some funny events start occurring  that point a finger towards his cousin Radha (Ameesha Patel). Siddharth of course doesn’t believe in ghost stories and calls for his friend Aditya Srivastav – a psychiatrist to help.

 

This movie has a Priyadarshan touch to it – loud – REALLY LOUD.  Of course, several unnecessary attempts at comedy are also in order because it comes from his table.  But, to be fair, the movie is a frame to frame copy so there is very little value addition other than the above 2 points.

 

Most of the performances are also ordinary.  Shiney Ahuja in fact looks as constipated as he can possibly get.  I guess his moment of truth passed with Hazaaron Khwaishein – like with most of the people associated with that movie.  Even Vidya Balan is a tad above average but it was early days for her.  The support cast also – ordinary. 

 

It is only the story that makes the movie really worth watching.  I have seen it on a couple of occasions without too much of an effort.  So I guess a 6 on 10 is in order.  However, I encourage you to take a look at the original (unfortunately without subtitles) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdp4xudz958 and make your mind up on which one is better.

 

Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adQ3aNpEFXg

Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal

There are 2 kinds of movies that Priyadarshan makes. Either the totally roller coaster, supremely slapstick, excruciatingly painfully loud kind of movie like Hulchul or that Malamaal Weekly. Or the average, sensible, semi-serious kinds, with a little bit of slapstick and loud in parts kind of movie like Bhool Bhulaiyya or Tezz. Mind you, I am not including his classy Malayalam movies which are a treat to watch.

Very rarely will you come across a movie from his table that is without a sense of purpose or which leaves you wondering – What was the purpose of this movie. Priyadarshan is exactly the kinds who stays true to the adage – Love him or hate him but you cannot ignore him. For a change, he has made a movie that leaves you totally flabbergasted at the end of it all.

Why did Priyadarshan make Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal? Was it because he did not have any work at all? Not possible right? He just released Tezz earlier this year. Which was his 67th movie in some 26 years. That’s a lot of cinema isn’t it? Maybe he was paid so much money that he could not say no. Or just maybe he wanted to give the out of job Nana Patekar, an opportunity to come back into cinema.

Whatever the reason maybe, KDM would easily qualify as one Priyadarshan’s most insipid pieces of work. It starts with a background story which involves 2 friends from Bijnor in UP. David (Om Puri) and Peter (Paresh Rawal). They are the thickest of friends with the exception of Maria (Sona Nair) who is Peter’s girl friend. But when Peter gets his servant knocked up, David steps in to marry Maria. Why was all this back story given or required in the first 3 minutes – beats me. It has nothing to do with the rest of the movie whatsoever.

And then we cut to the current day where David has been pulled down by life to only ringing the bell @ the local church. He has 2 daughters who are of marriageable age. And a good for nothing son, Johnny (Shreyas Talpade) who believes he can get rich by buying lottery tickets. But he is also a “piss in his pants” scaredy cat who cannot stand up for either himself or the love of his life – again Maria (Madhhurima). All of this till his long lost brother – Sam aka Kallu (Nana Patekar) reappears.

I saw KDM only because I had nothing better to do and because it is an occupational hazard. But you really do not need to. There is nothing really worth looking forward to. Even the attempted item number featuring Anjana Sukhani is without purpose or direction. A very disappointing attempt that truly leaves you feeling cheated. 3 on 10 and extremely avoidable.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKGrDahdu3w

Joker (2012 Hindi)

Last Friday (31st Aug 2012), we had a lot of work aligned and a very exciting day planned in store. It was my girl friend’s birthday and I had been planning a surprise party for quite a while. Over a week at least if memory serves me right. And helping me out with it was a very close friend Prachi Tiwari – who unlike me is already gainfully unemployed (I will be joining that band wagon quite soon). She was the first person I could think of and boy does it help to have some assistance when you are planning a surprise party.

True to her reputation Ms. Tiwari did a fabulous job of organizing for the party and was ably assisted by Shri Hersh Kathuria and Shri Pruthviraj Patil who assigned the chores of arranging for the food and getting a whole bunch of stuff for the party. The list of things that Pruthvi organized for – on the fly – included exotic stuff like wine glasses (which were never used eventually :p) and not so exotic stuff like milk and elaichi. But thanks to their timely intervention, the food was well taken care of.

I cant even begin to tell you how fortunate I am to have a bunch of complete buffoons as friends. Miraculously, all of them – except the younger ones (read Nikhil, Purnima, Sumantra and Deby) came in well on time. And if it hadn’t been for some gel nail polish which took about 30 minutes longer than normal and 250 bucks to remove we somehow managed to retain the surprise element when we got back home @ 2115 hrs.

We also played host to 2 of Prarthana’s closest friends – Shwetal and Anshu. Both of them made it with family in tow which was kind of risky considering the buffoon friends I referred to in the previous paragraph. I must tip my hat to their openness because they had absolutely no clue to the riot that we are capable of being once we have a little bit of blood in our alcohol stream we can be a senseless riot. And a senseless riot we were.

An hour and the term “Rock the party” was getting to be as real as the maker of the phrase intended it to be. There were drinks being mixed. Candles being blown out. Cakes being cut. Cakes being smeared on the birthday girl’s face. Cult tales from Café Mondegar’s being recalled. Some more drinks being mixed. Bouncers (read Pruthvi and Eddy) getting drunk…. Hey wait a minute… I thought this was a review for Joker isn’t it? Never mind… our party was more exciting by many country miles. 8 on 10 for the party (and we have had better). We have our first 1 on 10 for the year folks!!!

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrbKp5N74zE

Bol Bachchan

Like I said earlier in the day. I do not mind Rohit Shetty movies at all. But sometimes they do get to your nerves. And quite a bit. With no offence meant to the monotony or the predictable quality – one such comparison would be Def Leppard. No two Def Leppard songs are too different from the other. Similarly no two Rohit Shetty movies – whether it the totally slapstick Golmaal series or the Bajirao “Atha maajhi satakli re” Singham – can be too different. No offence meant to either Rohit Shetty or Def Leppard fans out there :p.

The difference being, Def Leppard can be heard out for quite some time. After a while of Rohit Shetty, one is compelled to switch channels or even consider moving out of the theatre. Not because it is a badly made movie but simply put because – if you have seen it once, you have seen it all. So essentially, Bol Bachchan is yet another cut copy paste of all his previous ventures with a vastly different star cast.

Shetty of course continues with his tried and trusted Ajay Devgn but adds in the angle of good “friend” Abhishekh Bachchan who seems to have signed up for a limited 2 movies per year – good for him. I can see it only going down to one per year. AB Jr. – I like you. And I mean it. But get out of the shadow of Yuva. You will not be able to repeat such a performance. Live with it and go out there and just be natural. It will help.

Prithviraj Raghuvanshi (Devgn) is the be all and do all in a village called Ranakpur in Rajasthan. He is widely respected and feared. Respected for his sense of justice and huge heart. Feared for his affinity for the English Language. So “Chhati ka doodh yaad dila doonga” translates to “I will make you remember Milk number 6”. You get the drift right.

Shastri (Asrani) is one of his “subjects” so to say who is a close family friend of Abbas (AB Jr.) and Sania (Asin) from Delhi. Abbas and Sania lose a property dispute case against their paternal uncle. With nothing to lose they come to Ranakpur on Shastri’s insistence. When Abbas breaks into a disputed temple to save a drowning child, Prithvi is impressed and gives him an accountants job that pays 35K per month. But to ensure no major communal issues, Ravi (Shastri’s son) introduces Abbas as Abhishek Bachchan. The comedy of errors ensues.

Rohit Shetty has not made any bones at all about the obvious inspiration he has drawn from Golmaal. If there was one person who is deeply influenced by the 1979 comedy it would be Shetty. The entire story of Bol Bachchan moves into a double role for Jr. B – one with a moustache and the other without. Need I say more? Go back to paragraph 2 of this review if you have forgotten what I have written earlier.

Watch it if you have nothing better to do – 6 weeks from now when it airs on TV or Tata Sky Showcase. You may like a bit of the slapstick humour that Shetty is famous – or should I say infamous for. 4 on 10 despite a warm welcome to one of my all time favourites on screen – Archana Puran Sing. Good to see her back with a performance typical of her.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn7I0Ajp0xc

Bodyguard

Eid Mubarak to one and all and much like previous times, the much awaited Eid release starring Salman Khan is out today. And I obviously had to ensure that I catch up with it at the earliest but this time around I had the misfortune of watching the movie in a really cramped PVR screen 4 at Ambience Mall Gurgaon. And that too from the 3rd row. Sorry about that Renu and thanks for patiently sitting through what turned out to be the least entertaining of the previous 3 Salman Khan flicks that released on Eid. There was a joke that has been doing its rounds over the past few days. 2009 – IPS Officer; 2010 – Inspector; 2011 – Bodyguard; 2012 – Chowkidaar?; 2013 – Chaprasi? Has Salman come to the end of his winning streak so to speak which started with Wanted that I would have easily rated as a 5 on 10 if not more. Dabangg was not a great movie from a perspective of quality of movie making but it was 100% entertainment to say the least. I had given it a 4 on 10 but also a 10 on 10 on pure entertainment value. Bodyguard sees Salman getting down to the abyss from a perspective of quality of movies over the past few years. One can only hope that the positive is – you can only get better from here. Only time will tell.

Bodyguard definitely gives the die hard Salman Khan fan and all the women in the house a lot to cheer about and drool over respectively. There are the magical Salman moments that can only be described as simply stunning & outstanding to say the least. The burst of water from a pipe that sprays itself with utmost force onto Salman’s torso forcing the buttons of his tight black uniform open – actually sending the buttons flying all over the place – and the shirt in itself is forced off those rippling muscles (at age 46 mind you) and onto to face of his villain who has to really put in some effort and goes by the name of Aditya Panscholi. An act that can be pulled off only by Salman and no one else (apologies to Rajani Saar but we are talking about Bollywood here). And then there is the most kick ass of all dialogues – Mujhpe Ek Ehsaan Karna… Ke mujhpe koi ehsaan na karna (Do me just one favour… that you don’t do me any favours). Just that the best Salman dialogue in this movie pales in comparison to – Ek baar mein commitment kar deta hoon toh mein apne aap ki bhi nahin suntan (once I have made a commitment then I don’t even listen to myself).

That there are a dime a dozen cheap dialogues thrown in by the ridiculously fat new comer Rajat Rawail who plays the role of Tsunami do nothing to add value to the movie is just one of the low points. These dialogues not only dilute the punch that Salman carries all the way through to the end. Performances from anyone else just don’t come upto the level that he has. Kareena will prove to be just well dressed eye candy to most people who are her fans but to those who aren’t fans like this writer it is just one painful scene after the other. The music by Himes bhai (Himmesh Reshammiya – with all the m’s in the world) is decent but not one of his better works. Overall, you will struggle through Bodyguard and will survive if you are a Salman fan. And of course Katrina looks heavenly in the 2 minutes that she comes on screen. 3 on 10 overall.

The trailer can be viewed on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoF4OJkWH3U