Rush

I have immense respect for Emraan Hashmi and his choice of movies. When he is part of a Mahesh Bhatt venture, you can be rest assured that the quality of music will be brilliant, the movie will be just about average, there will be at least one hot woman in the movie and to top it up, there will be a few kissing scenes and a love making scene if you are lucky.

To get this recipe bang on right from the first time and then to repeat it time after time can be only classified as an art form. One which Hashmi has mastered over the years. Or has he? Lets start the process of picking apart Rush. But first a quick look at the story

We have Sam Grover (Hashmi), who is a successful crime reporter @ Pulse 365. He gets an opportunity to interview a contract killer Prince (Murli Sharma) who spills the beans on some killings he has been part of in the cent past. But things go awry when the cops start chasing Sam and the big bosses take offence to the coverage of the killing of a reputed socialite. Sam is asked to leave.

But waiting to pounce on the opportunity are Lisa (Neha Dhupia) and her boss Roger Khanna (Aditya Panscholi) who seduce Sam with a more than lucrative offer. Sam is to replace the recently murdered editor in chief of Crime 24 (owned by Roger). Despite sme doubts, Sam takes up the offer but soon starts smelling a few fish.

Rush is peppered with several inconsistencies throughout. Firstly, the entire operation of Crime 24 seems to be too easy to be believed. More importantly, no one actually understands how they are always first on the scene every single time. Then there is the ease with which Sam manages to get his girlfriend Ahana (Sagarika Ghatge) out of the clutches of kidnappers. All too much to be believed.

Unlike most Hashmi movies, the music is average at best and really badly timed. The dialogues are insipid and sometimes just downright low standard - Jo Adams risk nahin leta, USA future risky ho jaataa hai (one doesn't take risks has a risky future). What was the script writer thinking???? The only thing better this time owns the presence of 2 really hot women (not including the bikini clad Eurasian models). Hashmi gets lucky with both (grrrr)

Lesser said about newbie director Shamin Desai, the better it would be for his career. Hashmi and Dhupia do reasonably well in their roles but to too great. The rest of the cast is either non existent or just downright bad. No reason for the show to have been houseful @ PVR Goregaon. Don't waste your time on this one. 4 on 10.


Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJkQEVWHl3A

Chak De India!!!

16 ladies who were converted to being household names 4 years back (will be 4 years in 1 week) - Vidya Sharma (Malavade), Balbir Kaur (Tanya Abrol), Gul Iqbal (Arya Menon), Nethra Reddy (Sandia Furtado), Soimoi Kerketa (Nisha Nair), Rachna Prasad (Kimberly Miranda), Raynia Fernandes (Raynia Mascerhanas), Nichola Sequiera (herself), Rani Dispotta (Seema Azmi), Bindia Naik (Shilpa Shukla), Gunjun Lakhani (Shubhi Mehta), Mary Ralte (Kimi Laldawla), Molly Zimik (Masochon V Zimik), Aliya Bose (Anaitha Nair), Komal Chautala (Chitrashi Rawat) and Preety Sabharwal (Sagarika Ghatge). It will take a while before people are able to forget these names which probably go us closest to a victory in a world cup hockey. Shimit Amin’s second movie was an even bigger block buster than his first one (Ab Tak Chhappan) and went on to cement his position as one of the better directors in Indian Cinema.

Shimit’s capability to generate enough enthusiasm to deflect the audiences attention from the really finer details is what makes him a solid movie maker. What he does beautifully is creating the excitement from the first shot of the movie where Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh) misses the penalty stroke in the final few seconds and so the world cup. Every few minutes he ensures that the movie actually touches an emotional chord with every viewer – and he does so beautifully with almost every Indian through Chak De India!!! Such as when Nethra Reddy is asked, “Tamil” and she says “Tamil aur Telegu mein utna hi farak hota hai jitna Punjabi aur Bihari mein” (The difference between Tamil and Telegu is identical to that between Punjabi and Bihari) Or when Mary Ralte and Molly Zimik say, “Aap apne hi Desh mein mehmaan banke rahoge”? (Would you like to stay as a guest in your own country) A Superb way to touch the regional sentiments and then get the nationalist sentiment also up and running with “Vidya Sharma. India”. Very slick movie making Mr. Amin.

Each character is clearly defined in terms of origin, aspirations, problems and what she expects to achieve from the campaign to win the world cup. Whether it is Komal’s desire never to be in a kitchen or Preety’s wish to prove her boyfriend wrong or Vidya’s need to win the world cup so that people at home let her live her life or Gul’s family’s legacy which she must live upto. Every single person with the exception of probably Nichola Sequeira, Rachana Sharma and Raynia Fernandes have been given their due.

Having said that, there are enough and more gaffes which would be visible to one if and only if s/he were to watch the movie through the eyes of a critic who wants to find mistakes. And even there Shimit would have a decent explanation to offer. The inspirations from Miracle on Ice are unmistakable though. The only place where I could question Shimit on his complete “originality”.

It is exceptionally difficult to review a movie that the entire world has seen and without doubt is completely in love with. Chak De is definitely the best sports movie made in India to date and could compare with some of the better ones world over for sure. If we were familiar with Ice Hockey or American Football I am certain we would find the same consistency errors that we do in Chak De. But the fact that Shimit has made this move as true to field hockey as possible is all credit to him. I would still give it an 8 on 10. Cant give more because I am aware of the flaws. But for those who haven’t seen it, you have definitely missed something. Add this to your MUST WATCH list.

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