Bheja Fry 2

It is never easy to make a sequel to a movie. Especially if the first one has been a stupendous success. The expectations of the audience have already been set extremely high. What it does though is ensure that the cash registers at the Box Office are continuously ringing. Music to the ears of the movie hall owners who are anyways having a tough time getting people to come in. However, a not so great sequel leaves the audience feeling distinctly cheated and more importantly ensures that there are no further sequels. May not be completely the case with Bheja Fry as a franchise thanks to one Vinay Pathak who carried the first edition ably on his shoulders - with support from a solid cast and a great script. The makers were sure enough to succeed with BF2 @ the BO. If and when there is a BF3, it will definitely break even thanks to the first one. And if it doesn't do well then u know what the reason would be.

The makers did get the first thing right in retaining Sagar Bellary as the director to ensure consistency of thought. But who was to know that Mr.Bellary had already fallen victim to the commercial aspects of cinema. BF2 is the classic case of, as I had tweeted, the fall of classic comedy to the levels of cheap slapstick humour and just glimpses of classic comedy which were too less for the normal movie goer to catch. What stumps me is that having tasted success with the evergreen genre of classic comedy, why would Bellary take a turn towards the slapstick? And why in the blazes would he get superb performers of the likes of Amol Gupte to stoop down to the levels of inanity on screen. Amol Gupte was surely desperate to get some money into the bank. Vinay Pathak continues to excel at his role of the irritating, "shudh hindi" (chaste hindi) speakinng, simpleton who goes by the name of Bharat Bhushan. The rest of the cast however changes to feature Kay Kay Menon who seems to have forgotten how to act. Minisha Lamba starts slow and seems have been picked to compensate for being just eye candy but then shows glimpses of decent acting before getting relegated the the level of Aditi Govitrikar who was furniture anyways to begin with. The only other noteworthy performance was from Suresh Menon as the sincere uncorruptable IT Officer MT Shekharan who is chasing Ajit Talwar (KK Menon) for IT fraud.

A tacky script, several inconsistencies (like Lamba jumping into the pool and coming out dry with her hair band intact and then again dripping wet in the room still with hair band perfectly held in place), very average music and not so great editing make BF2 a let down. But then most people would have got that from the trailers itself. Just the hope that people live in which dragged them into the halls. 5 on 10 for this one Mr. Bellary - regretably u have disappointed us!!!

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUUBTnqTWc8

Shaitan

One of the reasons I did not put up the review of Shaitan up earlier was because I was quite certain that people would watch it – review or no review – and not be disappointed with it. The other reason – the more important one – was that I was and still am running the movie back in my head to piece a few things together to figure out if they were really required in the movie. I probably have missed a few points when I saw the movie for the first time and may manage to latch onto the finer nuances when I watch it again (which will probably be this week). Its worth it when you are debating whether to give a movie a score of over 8 or was it really that good.

What makes Shaitan a magical experience is not just the direction. In fact that’s a small part of the entire mix is what you would feel at the end of it all. I have not seen a movie in a long time where the performances of every single person in the cast was near outstanding. If there was a blemish in the performances it would have been Nikhil Chinappa who appeared the weakest. Even the dialogue deprived (actually no dialogues at all) Sheetal Menon was inch perfect in her essaying of the peeved wife of a cop who decides to leave him albeit for a couple of days. Kashyap and Nambiar have taken very true to life actors and led them to probably their best performance possible not only to date but maybe for good. How else can you explain the likes of a Kirti Kulhari coming up with what she has. Her last performance was as Pammi in that slapstick movie – Khichdi. What a transition I say!!!! I tip my hat to you M/s Kashyap & Nambiar – like several others in this country are doing as we speak.

There are 3 reasons why I will not give Shaitan a score of more than 8 – Firstly I did not find the reason to introduce Shomu (Rajat Barmecha) into the story at all. Yes, it was a nice way to call out a kidnapping plot but I personally felt it was too stretched out. Secondly – I did not find any reason to introduce a chase scene with a Dahi Handi in the background. It could have been a regular chase. Difficult cut to make for any director but I guess that’s what differentiates the tough directors from the not so tough. Lastly, I felt the movie lost tempo somewhere in between. Cannot really point a finger on the exact spot where it started dropping and it picked up again but I did feel a sense of the movie drifting a little bit for about 15 minutes. In atypical Anurag Kashyap style, Bejoy Nambiar gets the movie from an absolute high down to the very low abysses and then shoots it again through the roof. I am quite certain that the movie was ghost directed by Anurag Kashyap – every frame reeks of Kashyap. Unless Kashyap is not only a great director but also a fabulous teacher and has trickled his learnings down to his protégé better than anyone else can.

My final verdict - 8 on 10. Undeniably the best movie of the year so far. MUST WATCH. And yes – Don’t miss the chase sequence with the evergreen Khoya Khoya Chand Remix playing in the background. Completely blows your mind!!!! And this is my official protest against the makers for not carrying such a brilliant track on the Audio CD.  Please release the uncut version with a couple of more tracks and i will still be standing in line to spend another 150 bucks for it.  Hope u have it on the DVD when u release it.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1kk_5OohaM

Allah Ke Bandey

The trailers were mightly impressive. The cast – extremely strong to say the least. The story seemed to have been inspired from the 1996 movie by Barry Levinson – Sleepers. The reviews on twitter were very positive. And I was hoping to see the next 7 on 10 movie of the year. But it was not to be I guess. Never judge a book by its cover or a movie by its trailer.


Vijay Kamble (Sharman Joshi) & Yakub Ansari (Faruk Kabir) are a couple of 12 year olds living in Bhool Bhulaiyya, a Chor Bazaar. They live with their aging and dying mother (Suhasini Mulay). She is Vijay’s biological mother and has adopted Yakub since his parents died in a train accident. Bhool Bhulaiyya is controlled primarily by Mafkaan Yeda and his right hand man, Nana. The kids understand that if they have to get anywhere within the place, the best way out would be to join the gang. They start running drugs and doing small time “Bhaigiri”. But these petty crimes aren’t going to get them into the big league. When their mother is diagnosed with an extremely weak liver and has no other choice but to be operated upon, the kids decide it is time to take the next step. They approach Mafkaan with a plan to rob a local jewelry store. Nana doubts them but Mafkaan is impressed with their spunk and gives them the green. The boys commit their first serious crime. When they are done with the job, they are about to run off with all the spoils without giving Mafkaan his share of 50%. But Mafkaan lands up. A scuffle ensues and Yakub shoots Mafkaan.

It only takes the cops a couple of days to track them down thanks to the detailed description given by Nana. But most importantly, Nana has taken advantage of the situation and shot Mafkaan already. So when the kids get rounded up they get charged with multiple counts and eventually find themselves in juvenile prison. This is the beginning of their worst nightmare. The Jailor (Nasseeruddin Shah) and KT the in house gangster use most of the kids for their own pleasure. And also run a drug racket within the premises. Our enterprising duo soon find themselves in trouble in an attempt to take on the system. When they get violated for the first time, Vijay decides its time to play it cool and strike when the moment is right which they soon do and take control of the situation instead of succumbing to it.

AKB is not a complete take off on Sleepers. It seems to be inspired in bits and pieces though. There are streaks of almost every slum movie that has been made in the past few years from the likes of Slumdog Millionaire to City of God. Somewhere it doesn’t seem original. Faruk Kabir as an actor looked like a good prospect in the rushes but eventually turns out to be a damp squib. The support cast is average with Zakir Hussain playing the lead duo’s trusted lieutenant – Ramesh Bhai. One wonders why Anjana Sukhani and Rukhsar were ever involved in the entire movie. Even the sex scene that Anjana Sukhani is part of is fairly insipid to say the least. They were both furniture and not even the best looking furniture one can expect. The saddest part is that a fabulous talent like Atul Kulkarni is all but wasted with barely a few minutes of screen time. There is nothing that Nasseruddin Shah has to prove anymore. His execution of the nasty warden is almost flawless. Sharman Joshi proves once again that he is definitely one of the best that we have on the block currently. And lastly but not the least – the child artistes – who I believe were very good in parts but not completely awesome. I hate to say this about kids and don’t mean to be a dampner but seriously there have been better performances by children on screen even if it was required to be as raw as AKB. Having said that, there is tremendous potential in both. And if someone can help me out with their names it would be great.

Marginally above Average direction and decent editing + cinematography make AKB worth a watch. But it doesn’t do justice to the power packed cast. Yet, it’s one of the better movies released of late. I am only disappointed because it could have been so much better. Watch it for the supporting role from Nasser and a strong lead performance from Sharman. I give it 6 on 10.