Himmatwala (2013)

I request the film fraternity to seriously consider some stringent rules for remakes.  There is an effort that has been put in by someone and that effort should be respected.  Creative liberty and freedom doesn’t mean that you can convert the effort from anyone into a piece of crap work.  Sajid Khan has done exactly that with K. Raghavendra Rao.

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.

Sona Spa

I love it when horrible movies are shorter than expected.  At least that ensures limited torture.  So Mr. Makarand Deshpande, “Thank you so very much for meeting my expectations and keeping this horrific movie down to less than 2 hours.  I would have actually gone one step further and not made it at all”.

Rangrezz

So what is it that makes a Priyadarshan movie? Let's examine this conundrum as closely as we possible can. Firstly the movie has to be copied - sorry inspired - by a movie that has originated from the South of the Vindhyas. The other directions or geographic territories are meaningless. In this case it is a Tamil movie called Naadodigal (Nomads) or loosely translated as Rangrezz (the 2 zs don't really help).

The Master

I hate art house cinema.  Primarily because I am never sure if the movie was good or not.  So it becomes extremely difficult to rate or review.  It exposes my limitations and makes me look and feel very vulnerable.  I am an amateur critic but a wrong review will of course go a long way in hampering my credibility. 

Olympus Has Fallen

I have always been a firm believer in Antoine Fuqua.  I have an exceptionally firm belief that he has far from reached his best.  And I firmly believe that if he doesn’t really pull his pants up sooner than later, he will lose whatever possibility he has to deliver a stunning piece of work.

Django Unchained

Meet Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz).  A gentleman of German descent who has made The US of A his home for a little over 4 years.  He is a dentist by profession but of late, he has been using his fine motor skills and reflexes for something far more profitable.  He is a Bounty Hunter.

Snitch

Ric Roman Waugh is a Stunt Director by profession.  And if one were to look at his filmography in the stunt department, it is enviable to say the least.  Lets call a few names out – Gone in 60 seconds, Last Action Hero, Total Recall (WOW!!!).  He has a couple of movies to his credit as a director but Snitch wasn’t bad at all.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

What makes your feel exhilarated when you see a magic trick? Is it the surprising aspect of something that you did not expect? Or is it the actual showmanship that the magician gets to the table? Or is it just the awe of seeing something that is so difficult to believe that you start believing that anything is possible?

Oz The Great And Powerful

Sam Raimi is no mean name in the business of entertainment.  He has given us a superbly webbed trilogy (how corny is that???) over the past decade – one that I am told, held the record for the best opening ever for a really long time.  With Oz The Great And Powerful, Raimi gives us yet another reason to celebrate.

Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)

My understanding of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a tad different from what I actually saw last weekend.  I had always thought that TCM was a random blood and gore movie with little or no story attached to it with a psychopathic killer at the centre of it all and of course a chain saw.

Jolly LLB

Jagdish Tyagi aka Jolly (Arshad Warsi) has graduated from Law College Meerut.  As on date, he is a struggling advocate at the local court.  Not too many people know of his existence even in the countryside.  He has been trying to live by that old adage that a lawyer has to be patient enough to get one big case.

Colombiana

I have missed watching Colombiana on many an occasion in the past.  Mostly because I wasn’t aware of when it was playing on television or because I chose another movie over this one on the in-flight or because I was just not in the mood for watching an action flick in general.  Didn’t really matter at the end of the day because I guess I hadn’t missed too much anyways.

3G

It is incredibly difficult, after a point of time, to tolerate the kind of crap that directors dis out these days as cinema.  Maybe I am getting unfairly bugged about 3G because it was definitely not as crappy as the Vikram Bhatt movies or those starring a certain Mahakshaya.  But 3G wasn’t too far away from this abysmal mark.

Jack The Giant Slayer

It is probably the most “in” thing these days in Hollywood.  A trend that started a year or so back.  The fairy tale with a modern twist.  A story of Snow White which has the seven dwarfs but it also has elements of thrill and fear woven into it.  Or as in this case, the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Mere Dad Ki Maruti

How do you successfully market a new car from the largest manufacturer of cars in India even though it doesn’t require any marketing?  I mean to say, the car is good enough and packed with a good amount of features and comes with the trust that this organization gets to the table.  But you still need to market it? If you do, this is how you do it.

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns

The disappointing aspect about Bollywood is not the lack of talent.  I am quite certain that there are truck loads of people who are exceptionally but for some inexplicable reason, they land up making random commercial cinema which I am quite certain even they aren’t proud of.  Tigmanshu Dhulia definitely falls in this list of people.

21 and Over

Jon Lucas and Scott Moore are the writers of Hangover and Hangover 2 amongst some other movies.  They have also written a small movie called Flypaper that starred Patrick Dempsey.  But they surely weren’t the writers of 21 or the American Pie series – at least not to my knowledge.

Saare Jahaan Se Mehenga

Indian cinema has always come up with some very interesting pieces of satire or comedy.  Every once in a while, you get some low budget comedy movies that provide wholesome family entertainment.  You know, the likes of Do Dooni Chaar (Rishi Kapoor & Neetu Singh playing a middle aged couple from Lajpat Nagar) or the more recent Vicky Donor.  You get what I am saying right?

11:28 pm

I have mentioned this in the past and probably not lived upto what I have promised myself.  I need to spare time for more genres of alternative cinema.  And one genre that I would really love to see more of would be Live Action Short.  My experience with them has usually been very good. And it has more to do with the amazing talent on display that gets a beautiful story on screen in under 30 minutes.

I Me Aur Main

Kapil Sharma is a first time director who picks up a topic that is actually quite bold for this part of the world.  That he, like most others in this country, makes a hash out of it comes as no surprise.  I was expecting a crappy movie right from the beginning and hence was probably saved from the disapointment.

The Attacks of 26/11

A very interesting way to market a movie and especially one of the magnitude of this one.  I stumbled upon this clip on you tube when I was looking for the trailer of The Attacks 26/11.  It shows the actual 7 minutes at the beginning of the movie.  Not a trailer but the actual 7 minutes.  So here goes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmSIJhfmXq0