Dedh Ishqiya

Pick the same director - check

Pick the same lead cast - check

Add 2-3 brilliant actors as seasoning – check

Retain some of the "characters" from the first edition – check

Pick yet another rustic premise / story – check

Add flavour with the tongue of The Nawabs – check

Make sure that the music is acceptable if not brilliant – check

Get a great cinematographer to create some gorgeous shots  - check

Get a location that connects with both rural and urban India – check

Hire a set designer who can make that location look even more beautiful - check

D-Day (Hindi) (2013)

Nikhil Advani’s rap sheet in Bollywood is not the most attractive to begin with.  Salaam E Ishq was too long, Chandni Chowk to China was horrible, Delhi Safari was an animation disaster.  He was tolerable in Patiala House.  But with D-Day he seems to have learnt the fine art of Bollywood cinema – doesn’t say too much about him though. Because it is still B Town.  Not H Town.

Ek Thi Daayan

Most of you are familiar that I have been making reasonable attempts over the past year or so, to overcome my morbid fear of Horror.  And most of you are also aware that I have done a good job out of it.  I am still a “fattu” (scaredy cat) but it takes more than what it used to, to scare me.  There are enough and more instances in Ek Thi Daayan that scared me and will scare quite a few of you as well.

Love Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana

What is it about Punjabis and Punjab in general that makes them an ideal target for movies of any kind. Is it their loud nature that gives them a character that is quite unique as compared to any other sect, caste, creed or society? Or is it the fact that they are super colourful. Or maybe it the fact that they drink like there is not tomorrow. Or is it that they are just very large hearted characters - especially the Sardars.

Or is it just their Chicken and their capability to gorge on tons of the 2 legged creature that has become an integral part our lives as well? Considering that the earlier points were already beaten to death, Sameer Sharma - himself a Punjabi probably - must have definitely said to himself that it was time to get the humble creature into tinsel town. Not too many movies have been made which have a chicken as its central character right? Talk about identifying and opportunity.

For those who are getting other ideas, the central plot of the movie revolves around a chicken dish eponymously named by the inventor's wife. The inventory - Shri Khurana aka Darji or Grandfather (Vinod Nagpal) who figures out by chance, a recipe that sets the village of Lalton in Punjab on fire. But the recipe remains a secret. One that only Darji knows and now that he is senile with one foot in the grave, it would, in all probability go with him to the grave.

And so, when Omi Khurana (Kunal Kapoor) comes back in the hope that someone back home will help him solve the gangster problem of £50000 that he has got himself into, he is in for a not so pleasant surprise. Now, he doesn't have the money. The family doesn't have the money. Darji doesn't remember him or the recipe. And the deadly gangster (hilariously deadly) Shanty is after Omi's life. To help Shanty,a we have his absurd younger brother - Manty.

So, as you can see for yourself, there is very little that upon have to look forward to with LSTCK in terms of a story. The screenplay and dialogues are also nothing out of this world. They suit the purpose of the movie and give it a major Punjabi flair for certain. Maybe there were some nuances that the Punjabis would get but I wasn't too excited to be honest. Amit Trivedi's music is also not his best performance to date by a mile.

Kunal Kapoor has always been and will continue to be a director's actor. As Sameer Sharma is definitely not the kind of director who could inspire much confidence in any of the cast. Huma Qureshi takes off from where she left in Gangs of Wasseypur. Here is a girl who is here to stay. A pity that she will never move into commercial cinema coz she is just to large for the screen.

The rest of the cast are people who come from theatre and give the movie the fillip that it needed to stay afloat. But for them, Luv Shuv could have been a disaster. 5 on 10. Worth a demo but u could wait for the DVD or see it on TV.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB9oO8bd7qM

Gangs of Wasseypur 2

Try and watch the trailer of Gangs of Wasseypur 2 (GoW2) before you actually watch the movie. It will give you a strong flavor of what you have in store of what can be easily termed as the most awaited sequel from the Bollywood stable in the recent and also the not the recent past. The lucky ones probably got to see the trailer at the end of Part 1 itself if your screen didn’t scrimp on saving power for a few minutes. For the not so lucky ones there is you tube.

GoW2 continues from exactly where it left off in GoW – with Sardar Khan’s death. But a few minutes into the movie and you will know that you are in for something that is even more gory and bloody as compared to the precursor. In about 10 minutes, there are 2 funerals and one chopped head – both of which are shown in as much graphic detail as you could probably get out from the censor board.

Sorry about the spoiler but it just left a lasting impression in my head. I can remember very few (if any) movies which are this graphic in nature and grabs hold of you with both hands and shakes you up in such a short span of time. And all of this is inspite of its really slow pace.

The onus of running the Khan family then falls squarely on the shoulders of Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who has to now try to achieve a fine balance between his fascination for the green drug, his attraction to Mohsina (Huma Qureshi) and his mother’s expectation of revenge.

GoW2 also sees the introduction of 3 new characters. Faizal’s younger brother who speaks with a lisp who is fondly called Perpendicular. At age 14 he is uses Faizal’s fear to the maximum along with his almost fair weather friend called Tangent. And the most important character being Faizal’s step brother – Definite (Zeishan Quadri). The former and the latter are strongly sketched through the movie – especially Definite.

The hallmark of GoW2 will undeniably be the blood and gore that it has shown as blatantly as the censor board could have allowed. But this can at no point take away credit for the clean character sketches of each and every role or the stunning performances from each and every one in the crew. Even if it is a small role like that of Tangent, Shamshad or Guddu, the effort put in is simply superb. Anurag Kashyap could not have come up with the goods once again without these performances. To me, the find from the series would be Richa Chadda, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tigmanshu Dhulia.

Watch out for yet another fabulous score from Sneha Khanwalkar. I personally think she is insane. One cannot make music that is so apt for a movie and of such high quality if you are normal. Not to forget the hilarious and talented performances from Yashpal Sharma. To me, GoW 1 and 2 have been the movie of the year to date. 7.5 on 10 for this one as well.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3PZbL8JGYQ