GRAND MASTI

PLOT:
Disappointed.The movie uses a base of college reunion to build up a story, but has no plot of its own whatsoever. The three actors from Masti(2004) viz Riteish,Vivek and Aftab reprise their roles of Amar, Meet and Prem respectively.The lead ladies in the former are done away with and new additions include Sonalee Kulkarni,Karishma Tanna and Manjari Fadnis and Suresh Menon and Pradeep Rawat along with Maryam Zakaria, Bruna Abdullah and Kainaat Arora.The movie deals with adult one liners and BBM jokes along with some FB statuses. Its completely made for youth and Adults will find this movie a bit vulgar.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
A loud performance by Pradeep Rawat(Ghajini fane) keeping in mind that he just yells throughout the movie.The three wives have no scope to perform at all in this movie and are mere dolls. The trio of Rose Mary Marlo perform in some obscene scenes but some scenes are just too vulgar to mention too.Decency lost by all it seems!! Suresh Menon delivers his best in this movie and is the pick of the lot, but again the adult content will ruin my chance to tell you when he is at this best :-) Indra Kumar has given us what we all thought would take the adult-comedy genre to a new height.But it looks as if this movie might be the height of the genre.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
Music deserves a mention(the only thing which is not raunchy). Some nice and average songs take the movie ahead.Promotions have been good too.The music wont stay for long with new releases not far away.Overall,average!

COLLECTIONS:
BOOOOMMMM!!!Too good.Opening week of Rs. 60cr makes it a contender for the prized Rs.100cr club. Great weekend.This movie has eaten the audience of THE LUINCHBOX and PHATA POSTER...to some extent.Week 2 is crucial. More the collection, more are the chances of it entering the prized club as it might face competition from Besharam soon.If it passes the mark, it will be the first adult film in the comedy genre to do so.Wait till then....

USP:
Vulgar jokes, vulgar one liners,vulgar......it just continues and this is exactly what today's yputh likes it seems.

FLAWS:
To be frank, this movie has all the ingredients to spoil a kid or to be precise a teenager. Women need to be respected and this is where the film fails.Jokes are okay to hear but the way women are treated in this movie I wonder whether teenagers will see women the same way before and after they watch it.

FINAL VERDICT:
Bored sitting at home, go for it....otherwise check out for the DVD soon...or you can go for it in case you like such movies.

RATING:
3/5

D-DAY

PLOT:
The film tells us the tale of four RAW agents who are on a mission to capture India's most wanted criminal Iqbal a.k.a. Goldman. If you think that this movie is about RAW agents only, you are wrong. The movie takes us throught the nail bitting action packed thriller. Its obvious that you might predict the end soon, but you'll surely be wrong somewhere thanks to a wonderful script and awesome direction by Nikhil Advani. Each lead character in the movie has his/her own personal life and they constantly fight with it to do their duty. In short, a great saga of emotions with an action extravaganza.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
Nikhil Advani has directed one of the best movies ever.It is written by Ritesh Shah and Suresh Nair and perfectly enacted by all. Arjun Rampal, Irrfan , Huma Qureshi deliver their best ever. Special mention for Akash Dahiya (googly from chillar party) needs a special mention. Irrfan enacts all the scenes in such a way that you will be spellbound by the way he acts the emotional scenes and the Adrenaline action sequences. He is truly a gem in Bollywood. Arjun Rampal has probably worked in his best project so far and his act is amazing. Huma Qureshi is brilliant as usual and you will love watching her. Shruti Hassan too little to offer, but has done her role.Now the pick of the lot...Yes!!! Rishi Kapoor. When you see Rishi Kapoor in this movie, you will be left wondering, whether he is the same Lover-boy  of the late 70s and 80s. Chilling performance and stunning dialogues by him add to the beauty of the role by Rishi Kapoor.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
The setting of the songs in the movie is perfect and the songs leave a mark.The music is good keeping in mind that music in action packed films haven't worked that well in the past and off late we got to see some great music in action packed films. Good promotions, though not the best.

COLLECTIONS:
Heading towards a low tally of Rs. 20 Crore in week 1. Poor collections over the weekend and a dip on Monday shows that the film might not perform well at the boxoffice. The main reason this film wont work is the immaturity of Indian viewers. We like nonsense crap like Bodyguard and when it comes to some superb films, we are bored...Why?

USP:
Plot, Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan, Arjun Rampal, Huma Qureshi, Akash Dahiya blah blah blah...

FLAWS:
Some might find it boring, it is meant for the clever audience..other asses play stay at home!!

FINAL VERDICT:
Go on...Must watch..superb plot...

RATING:
4.5/5

DUNIYADARI

PLOT:
Friendship...love....sacrifices...that's what Duniyadari is what about...Based on Suhas Shirwalkar's novel, the movie takes us through the nostalgia of the 70s.Set up in a Pune college, two rivals(Ankush and Swapnil) unite. Soon we see a love triangle. Friendship blossoms, love blossoms.Then what is duniyadari about? You need to see this one coz of the well written novel and nicely carved movie out of it. Marathi movies finally finding their hold this year..

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
Superb acting by one and all. We seldom see actresses shining in a movie. Many times they are just treated like dolls. But here, even Shirin(Sai Tamhankar) and Meenu(Urmila Kanetkar) leave an impression. Swapnil Joshi and Ankush Chowdhary live upto their expectations. Jeetendra Joshi is outstanding too. Sanjay Jadhav gives us a blockbuster after Checkmate, Ringa Ringa and Fakt Ladh Mhana. Nice cinematography and crispy editing.Kudos to the team.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
The music works.Nice tracks that will keep you mumbling all the time with Zindagi the pick of the lot. Deva tujhya.. song is well written too. Music does the work. Promotions have been aggressive and it has paid well. It wasn't surprising to see the team everywhere, on every show on TV, it was a pleasure! Hardwork finally pays! :-)

COLLECTIONS:
No official report as of now...though all the shows having house full boards everywhere. We seldom see this board nowadays even for hindi films...hehe and this one has done the near impossible nowadays.

USP:
Acting,plot,direction,songs,love,friendship....the list goes on.

FLAWS:
By aim to write reviews is to tell you why should you go on for it...You may find too many twists in the movie, but that's ok if you could digest some nonsense twists in Race(2008) and Race 2 (2013).

FINAL VERDICT:
YES, a big yes...go on.

RATING:
4/5

B FOR BOLLYWOOD #4

99

RELEASE DATE:
15th April,2009

GENRE:
Comic Thriller

PLOT:
Set in the year 1999, this movie takes you on a fun filled adventurous ride. It depicts the story of two businessmen turned workers turned "vasuli bhai" people. Sachin (Kunal Khemu) and Zaramud(Cyrus Broacha) sell duplicate SIM cards together. One such deal goes awry and while running away from the police they steal a car and crash the car. A Mumbai based bookie owns the car and forces them to work for him to pay the expenses of the car. The duo goes to Delhi to recover money from Rahul(Boman Irani) and others and end up losing Rahul's money. They plan to bet on the ongoing Ind-SA match. They even use their Duplicate SIM tricks to clone a bookie's(Vinod Khanna's) mobile phone to find out who will win the match.Will they be successful? Was the match set?of course it was! But what happens next is worth watching!!

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
Classic performances by Kunal Khemu, Boman Irani and Cyrus Broacha. Soha Ali Khan lends a hand too. Vinod Khanna does well in the cameo too. The pick of the lot is Mahesh V. Manjrekar. Superb timing,great accent and also comical expressions just makes you grin in almost of all Mahesh Manjrekar's scenes. The team is directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K.The duo have done a great job.The cinematography has been handled by Rajeev Ravi well. Thumbs up for them.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
The music of the movie is average. No chartbusters at all. The promotions of the movie were same too. Positive word of mouth helped the movie garner some response too. Average!

COLLECTIONS:
Suffered due to the disputes between the single screens and the multiplexes considering that the movie was meant for multiplex audience.

USP/WHY IT SHOULD HAVE WORKED:
Superb performance.This has been the norm of every movie posted in this B for...section. Watch it for Mahesh Manjrekar's splendid performance and also for Boman Irani's role.

FLAWS/WHY IT DIDNT WORK OUT:
Largely youth centric and for the multiplex audience. To add to this, Screen disputes between the owners.Poor timing and poor luck for the movie it seems. It should have worked.

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH IT:
Acting and the thrilling story. Hats off for their research.

RATING:
4.5/5

TIMEPLEASE - LAGNANANTARCHI GOSHTA ALBUM REVIEW

ABOUT THE ALBUM:
The album is composed by Rishikesh Kamerkar and has 5 songs. Rishikesh Kamerkar has given us some great numbers in Majha avra tujhi baayko(2006), Saade maade teen(2007) and the rom-com Kshanbhar Vishranti(2010). He delivers again this time.The album consists of 3 solo songs and 2 duets. The setting of the songs will be covered in the movie review soon. No links will be provided here. I urge you to buy the album and support our industry.

SONGS:
1) BUTTERFLY MAN:
The pick of the lot. Something what the Marathi audience has always liked, this song is a lyrical parody of the yesteryears big names of Bollywood. You will surely enjoy the engaging lyrics of this song. This song will surely work on screen too keeping in mind that Siddharth Jadhav is performing on it. Fresh approach to a concept that was tried again and again in the past.(See Mahesh Kothare's movies which has a parody song on Bollywood).

2)TIME PLEASE:
Yet another outstanding effort. Sung by Jasraj Joshi, a nice efoort by both the composer and the singer. In fact, its even better though not the best song of the album. Its setting in the movie will be the deciding factor in its success.

3)AAS TU:
Again, superb compostion,superb lyrics and soothing voice by Swapnil Bandodkar. Better than the one than follows the list. Its a romantic number to be remembered for some days.

4)KADHI NA KADHI:
The sad song of the movie will surely take us on a ride in the movie it seems. You will love it. Do hear it. Rishikesh.has taken the effort to give us the best along with the hard work.

5)NAVA GADI AN RAJYA NAVE:
The pick of the lot. Dr. Neha Rajpal and Rishikesh Kamerkar have given their best. The music is here to stay and this song will be heard everywhere. Both of them rock the song. You will love this number, no doubt.Do  hear it once, you will surely hear it again and again.

VERDICT:
All singers, TAKE A BOW. A nice album and also a nice film it seems. Half the work done. The album has a youth-feel but will be liked by one and all. Rishikesh Kamerkar takes his graph to a great height with it.

RATING:
4/5

B FOR BOLLYWOOD #5

REHNAA HAI TERRE DIL MAIN

RELEASE DATE:
19th October,2001

GENRE:
Romance

PLOT:
Have you ever loved someone? Love can melt even the hardest rock...isn't it? Isnt love the best feeling ever? Isnt it a roller coaster ride? Whatever may be your answer, this film takes you through one. Sam (Saif Ali Khan) is an ideal student in an engg. college, while Maddy(R. Madhavan) is a total brat. We get to see the notorious side of Maddy through the constant scuffles between him and Sam. The story takes a brief leap and Maddy spots Reena (Diya Mirza) at the wedding of one of his classmates. He changes for the good and is not the old brat he once was. Destiny has something different in store for him as he sees her again, only to learn that she will soon get married to some Rajeev, though she has never seen him. He plans to enter her life posing Rajeev. Will he be successful in winning her? Who is the real Rajeev? Will Reena know his true identity? Worth watching.....

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
The team of Minnale(2001) (the movie of which RHTDM is a remake) wasn't retained with some scenes changed too. The lead pair share nice chemistry with Saif having nothing to do much. This was the time he wasn't doing well in B-Town. Early days for Vrajesh Hirjee too. Still all of them deliver nice performance. Harris Jayaraj has a similar album in store as the original. Overall it scores here.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
All the songs were chart busters barring a couple of them. Minnale has raised hopes for this hindi installment. A sloppy climax and average publicity let this down. But the music is still alive in everyone's heart with the movie gaining a cult status over the years.

COLLECTIONS:
It had a poor run at the box office and only managed Rs. 2.25 crores at the boxoffice. Week 1 showed better results with Rs. 1.3 crores with the collections drastically falling afterwards with week 2 collections around Rs. 45 lakhs and then subsequently only Rs. 25lakhs in the next couple of weeks.

USP/WHY IT SHOULD HAVE WORKED:
Watch it for the romance. Superb chemistry between Diya and Maddy. Their romance will surely remind you of your love once again.

FLAWS/WHY IT DODNT WORK:
The climax doesn't justify the romantic movie at all. The movie didn't work largely owing to the climax. Some websites claim that the changed scenes didn't work in the hindi version.

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH IT:
Watch it for the romantic chemistry between the lead pair. Will surely teach you love and remind you of the nostalgic days whether single,committed or married.

RATING:
4.5/5

B FOR BOLLYWOOD #6

JOHHNY GADDAAR

 

 

RELEASE DATE:
28th September, 2007

GENRE:
Neo-noir thriller (neo-noir = stylish crime drama)

PLOT:
The film is an tribute to various film makers especially of the noir genre.The film revolves around a gang of five, viz Sheshadri (Dharmendra), Vikram, Johhny G (both Neil Nitin Mukesh),Shardul (Zakir Hussian), Prakash (Vinay Pathak) and Shiva (Dayanand Shetty). Kalyan (Govind Namdeo) offers Sheshadri drugs worth Rs. 5 crores for just Rs, 2.5 crores. Each member has to contribute equal amount for the deal. Everything goes on as decided till the greedy demon in Vikram lures him in stealing the money that Shiva is to carry. He plans to do so in Parwana(1971) style. Will he be successful....will his plan work...will the other 4 ever know about his motives...who is fired at the start of the movie?? Believe me, its worth watching...

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
Superb acted by the whole gang as well as the supporting roles. Rimi Sen has too little to offer. But Ashwini Kalsekar manages to leave an impression as also Govind Namdeo who has a small role. Late Rasika Joshi, in a cameo shows her caliber once again. Superbly directed and written by Sriram Raghvan The nostalgic background score reminds us of the late 70s era which gave us the best music Bollywood will ever hear. Perfect 5 for their performance.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
The music and the background will make music lovers nostalgic. The posters of the film were nice too.Thriller genre has been nicely potrayed in this film owing to the superb background score.

COLLECTIONS:
Only Rs. 10 crores for it though it was a sleeper hit. Rave reviews didn't help it though film lovers might consider it a cult film soon.

USP/WHY IT SHOULD HAVE WORKED:
Superb performance by each and every actor/actress. Though predictable afterwards,worth watching till the end.

FLAWS/WHY IT DIDNT WORK:
No flaws as such. Too difficult to say why it didn't work out. Watch it once and give your comments

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH IT:
Simply for the thrilling story, pretty much predictable beyond a point.

RATING:
4/5

B FOR BOLLYWOOD #7

AAGEY SE RIGHT

RELEASE DATE:
4th September,2009

GENRE:
Rom-Com

PLOT:
The film revolves around Dinkar Waghmare (Shreyas Talpade), a policeman who loses his service gun and Balma Rashid-ul-Khairi a.k.a Jaanu (Kay Kay Menon), a terrorist who plans to blow up a function. The film takes us through some funny moments about how Dinkar tries to find the gun and ends up being a hero. Jaanu's life also takes a twist when Pearl (Shehnaz Treasurywala) enters his life. A terrorist falls in love! What happens next is worth watching....

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
The director of the movie is Indrajit Nattoji and he has done a wonderful job. The film is stylish enough in terms of looks and the cast does a great job. Kay Kay Menon is outstanding as always and Shreyas and Bharti Acharekar stay true to their role. The pick of the lot is Vijay Maurya (plays Raghav Shetty). His role is well written and he delivers each and every dialogue with ease.No wonder this film was stated as the most underrated gem of  2009.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
Music plays half the role in promotions. The film suffered here with no publicity of the music at all. Few posters here and there didn't garner much response and the film was seen by many on DVD. Truly disappointing.

COLLECTIONS:
Poor.Largely to the fact that the film wasn't promoted well. It took a toll on the collections and the film didn't do much as expected by the Ronnie Screwwala banner and his team.

USP/WHY IT SHOULD HABE WORKED:
Simply for Kay Kay Menon and Vijay Maurya. Hats off to both for their acting. The film also has some nice one liners to make you grin. The romantic angle between Pearl and Jaanu is worth watching.

FLAWS/WHY IT DIDNT WORK OUT:
No Promotions. No music launch or whatsoever publicity of it. In one scene Pearl is shown as a bar girl. While in the other she is auditioning for a role. Forget these flaws and watch the movie.

WHY SHOULD YOU SEE IT:
Watch it once for the brilliant performance by the cast. It is a gem. The plot may not be like any other hit film, but the performances by one and all defy it.

RATING:
4/5

GHANCHAKKAR

PLOT:
The film revolves around a bank heist which is carried out by three people.As per their plan,the loot is given to Sanjay Atre(Emraan Hashmi), the expert safe cracker to hide by  Pandit(Rajesh Sharma) and Idris(Namit Das).The story takes a twist when find out that Sanjay has supposedly forgotten where he hid the money after an accident. The speed of the narration goes on pretty slow after this fast paced 10 minutes. Its a nice story to keep you guessing till the end. But then..... You will yourself fill this line when you watch it.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
The film wholly belongs to Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi,though not his best. They are ably supported by Rajesh Sharma(special 26 fame) and Namit Das(last seen in Wake up Sid & Lafangey Parindey). Raj Kumar Gupta, who gave us No one killed Jessica gives us a great toast of entertainment here, but at a slow pace.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
Truly the best. Amit Trivedi gives us something different yet same to hear everytime. Amitabh Bhattacharya rocks with his lyrics too. The promotions have been superb with both the lead actors giving the best they gave in movies.5/5 for this section.

COLLECTIONS:
According to boxofficeindia, the film has had an average opening with 35% occupancy in the morning shows and better results were seen later. It collected Rs. 6.75 crores net on day 1.

USP:
Vidya Balan ;-) and the witty one liners with some under the belt humor around the interval :-)

FLAWS:
I repeat what I said in the plot section. But then....watch the movie and you will complete this line afterwards. Better thank me for not telling you the flaw before.

FINAL VERDICT:
Awesome entertainer. But then....

RATING:
3.5/5

B FOR BOLLYWOOD #8

Makdee The web of the witch

 

RELEASE DATE:

22nd November,2002

GENRE:
Sci-Fi drama

 

PLOT:
The film revolves around a naughty girl Chunni(Shweta Prasad) and a Palace where Makdee(Shabana Azmi), a witch lives. History has it that any person who went inside the palace never returned in the human form, but was transformed in to an animal by the witch. Chunni is a notorious girl of the village famous for her pranks. She has a twin sister Munni and she uses her identity to get out of trouble everytime. This idea backfires as Munni is mistaken for Chunni and is chased down into the palace of Makdee.What happens next is a tale worth watching for all those who want to see the duel between the cruel witch and the clever Chunni.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
Definitely chills will run down the spine for those who believe in witches n all owing to the fantastic performance by Shabana Azmi. Shweta Prasad has performed her best in this National award winning role. Aalap Majgaonkar as Mughal-e-azam is totally fun to watch too. Even Dayashankar Pandey as masterji, a rational minded professor is heart warming to watch. Makaranad Deshpande is the pick of the lot with his acting being his best ever. Overall this section rules the movie.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
Only one song to remember of all. Papad wale! The songs aren't remembered. The posters for the film were superb. Star value lacked in the promotions and hence it is clearly seen in the collections

COLLECTIONS:
The film opened to a poor Rs. 10.5 lacks net and failed to go up taking the lifetime collection of the movie only to Rs. 72 lacks net only. Pretty disappointing for a film of such finesse to be a dud at the boxoffice.

USP/WHY IT SHOULD HAVE WORKED OUT:
The USP of the movie lies in the brilliant acting of the whole cast. The film should have worked because it teaches all the kids and also the grown ups to think rationally regarding such myths.

FLAWS/WHY IT DIDNT WORK OUT:
No flaws as such but people might consider it to be a film made for children. It didn't work out simply because of lack of stars and the collections were too low because of the film releasing in a big city like Mumbai in the 3rd week of its theatrical run.

WHY SHOULD YOU SEE IT:
Fun till the end. The cast and simply Makrand Deshpande and Shabana Azmi.

RATING:
4/5

B FOR BOLLYWOOD #9

4084 Chaalis Chauraasi

RELEASE DATE:
13th January,2012

GENRE:
Thriller,Comedy

PLOT:
The film revolves a gang of 4 friends who come together and plan to loot a house which exchange real notes and fake cash.Under the impression that only two people guard the house and that soon the all the fake notes will be exchanged with real notes they prepare to loot the real ones remaining at the end by becoming fake police and scaring them away. The worst thing is that they don't have a plan. What follows ahead is a comedy-of-errors-sort-of tale. Then why is the movie named so? Its not until the climax you'll get to know why.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
Superb acting by all. All film lovers will agree to the fact that Kay Kay Menon, Naseeruddin Shah and Atul Kulkarni choose only the best offered. Imagine all of them together. To add to this Rajesh Sharma( Special 26 fame) and Ravi Kissen add spice to it. Hriday Shetty failed with Plan(2004), his debut movie as a director.no wonder these characters in the movie have no PLAN ;-) Zakir Hussain(Johhny Gaddaar fame) delivers yet again this time. The Hariyanvi goons too are fun watching. Overall a superb performance by the whole cast.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
The music album has Hawa Hawa, a Pakistani song, whose rights were brought too. Two versions of the song make it the only catchy song of the movie while the others are average. You might disagree to this. The promotions of the film weren't that good considering the big cast of the film and comparing it with other big budgets, the promotions were the worst.

COLLECTIONS:
Owing to the less publicity and no hit song in the album, the film suffered in its collections and only managed to collect Rs 14 Crores net gross in the opening week. Due to positive word of mouth, the business did pick but only to return the budget it seems.

USP/WHY IT SHOULD HAVE WORKED OUT:
The acting, the cast and the silly errors they do are worth watching. Stellar performance by all. It should have worked as the other big movies released that day(Ghost and Sadda Adda) were both total flops. But surprisingly it didn't work out.

FLAWS/WHY IT DIDNT WORK OUT:
Less promotions(maybe because of the budget as seen on many websites).The only flaw in the movie is a loose plot. I mean how the character met, how are they so close friends is not clear throughout the movie though it doesn't affect the plot as we have a clear insight in their life.

WHY SHOULD YOU SEE IT:
You will enjoy the small punches in between. You will love the acting of all the cast. You will enjoy Atul Kulkarni as Bobby and Kay Kay Menon as Alber Pinto the car thief. They both deliver a superb performance worth watching

RATING:
3.5/5

B FOR BOLLYWOOD #10

404:Error not found

 

RELEASE DATE:

20th May,2011

 

GENRE:
Psychological thriller

PLOT:
The film basically revolves around a room, which is supposedly haunted by a student who committed suicide in the room years ago. Abhimanyu (Rajjvir Arora),a student starts living in the room and is supported by Professor Anirudh (Nishikant Kamat) who is a staunch believer that paranormal activity doesn't exists in this world.The rational-minded Abhimanyu starts experiencing the unusual and soon starts seeing the boy who committed suicide. Caught in the web now, he ignores all this as halucinations. But do paranormal activities exist? Well, see the movie to find out.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
The Director of the film is Prawaal Raman,the director of Gayab(2004) which was a dud at boxoffice and Darna Zaroori Hain(2006) which was again a horror movie.He does better here than those two. Rajjvir Arora is surely the right choice for the role and Imaad Shah though has nothing more to do than few scenes leaves an impression. He's given the music too. Satish Kaushik has done his part well. Nishikant Kamat deserves a round of applause here. Nicely executed climax by him will surely give shivers to all. He is inarguably the pick of the lot.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
The music is composed by Imaad Shah(son of Nasseeruddin Shah and an actor in 404) and sung too. The music is not different, but not same too. Fits in the genre. But should have been better. Promotions of the film were average with posters ranging from the one above and some different ones which surely helped to some extent.Overall,its average

COLLECTIONS:
The movie fared too poorly at the boxoffice.No official reports are available regarding the collection,though only the occupancy is listed which was around 5%-10%

USP:
Nishikant Kamat  and the plot,clearly this deadly combination is worth watching.

FLAWS/WHY IT DIDNT WORK:
The biggest flaw is in us. We seldom watch movies which have no superstars. But aren't superstars created this way? Coming back to the movie, it slows down its pace sometimes and No songs used in the movie although the album was officially released.

WHY SHOULD YOU SEE IT:
Whether you believe the paranormal or not, watch it to support your stance. The movie gives a sort of illusion to what you support, the paranormal or otherwise. I can guarantee you, you wont change your stance regarding it, but do watch it once.

RATING:
4/5

NEW SECTION

With the warm response for the Hollywood on hire section, we are introducing a new section "B for Bollywood". We will feature some must-watch contemporary films which didn't work out when they released but were worth watching. The list focuses only on films that never made it to the hit list and not about the critically acclaimed ones. The Hollywood on hire will be exclusively written by Akshay while I'l be writing this section. Hope we get the same response :-)

Regards,
Viraj

FUKREY

PLOT:
Money matters! doesn't it? Well atleast when you watch this one, you will have to believe this line.A gang of boys dream to make money and then realize.....well id like to end the plot here itself and request all those interested to find out for yourself. The story takes some time settling down in terms of characters.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
This movie is from the same banner that once produced a metro-youth film some 12 years ago.Yes! Dil Chahta hain. Quite pleasing to watch the actors.Pulkit Samrat(Bittoo Boss fame), Manjot Singh(SOTY and Oye lucky....), Ali Fazal(Joy  Lobo in 3 Idiots) etc are pleasing to watch. The ladies have proved the director's and producer's faith in them. Overall this section scores good. Mrighdeep Lamba has a sort of comeback after his last dud Teen they bhai.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
Ram Sampath has been a revelation in the last couple of years. His music is fresh and vibrant,but I doubt whether we will really remember the contemporary music over the years. Nevertheless music gets 3/5 from me. Promotions have been average minus the unusual name of the movie.

COLLECTIONS:
It had a poor opening 1st week of 17.50 crore net gross with favourable collections on weekdays. But the collections may drop down owing to the competition of Raanjhanaa. Other movies may not affect it as they are of other genre. The 2nd week will clearly indicate the lifetime collections of this movie. I think the collections will be average.

USP:
The script works at times and at times is repetitive, but is surely the USP of the film. Cool bunch of (sort of PJ)jokes will make you giggle.

FLAWS:
Smart comedy lovers will hate this movie. People who loved films on Obama and Osama will feel this film worthless while Khichdi lovers have a feast. Of course of the movie and not real Khichdi :-)

FINAL VERDICT:
You free anytime? Yes, then go for it. Definitely worth your time.

RATING:
3.5/5

YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI

PLOT:
Well, the movie scores in this area as we get to see two contrasting lead roles. Bunny(Ranbir) is an over ambitious guy who wants to visit each and every corner of the world. Naina(Deepika) on the other hand is a no-nonsense girl who is serious about life and family. They meet at a trek and what follows is the rest of the story.Its quite pleasing to watch the two along with Kaki & Aditya Roy Kapoor. The film has a youth feel throughout which will be loved by all age groups

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:
Ayan is upto his best and we can sense his graph growing with this film. Ranbir has done a lot of hard work for the role. Deepika's role is quite charming and well enacted too.Kalki and Aditya,both,though in supporting roles steal the limelight at times whrough their acting and expressions. Its worth mentioning that Faarooq Sheikh does a nice job in the nearly 5 minutes screen space he gets.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:
Half the battle won here! Music plays and important part in a film's promotions and they score perfect 10 here. The music is excellent with all songs worth listening.The promotions have been great with all major cities have seen the banners all round.Great marketing for the movie by the producers!

COLLECTIONS:
A massive Rs.106 crore collection in week one. Rs. 45 crores in week two keep the film in contention for 200 club.Lets wait and watch.

USP:
Badtameezee ek bimari hain..... Yes Ranbir and actually the whole cast is the USP. Well enacted by all. You shouldnt  miss this one anyway.

FLAWS:
Go for some entertainment.Ignore the flaws if any. The only flaw is that Hero always unites in the end with the heroine...Hehe...but isnt this Bollywood....

FINAL VERDICT:
Go on....a big yes!!!

RATING:
4/5
 

Our Condolence

     Me,Viraj Baraskar and my blog partner Akshay Narkar, currently have prior commitments and also upcoming engg. exams soon. Due to this,we wont be able to post any new reviews about any new movies or any vintage collection as we had started till June,2013.Its really difficult for us to stay away from you all. We are getting nice feedback from all our readers and followers.I started an encouraging journey from what I thought was a small experiment,2 months ago only to be joined by Akshay,a month ago. We promise we will soon be back with a big bang.

Regards,
Viraj Baraskar
:-)

ABCD - Any Body Can Dance

PLOT:

It was almost two decades ago,we saw Prabhudeva dancing on the tunes of Muqabla.He's back again to act in a hindi film...err actually dance.And you can say he's back with a bang. Mild Bang to be precise. ABCD is meant to be an inspiring story of how a choreographer, heartbroken at a point goes on to teach some slum dancers and sees a dream of starting an ultimate dance academy. Works out well, and dance lovers, especially youtube dance video lovers,you are all for a treat here.Watch out for some ups and downs in this dance oriented film.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:

Remo D'Souza gave us the a big sleeper hit in F.A.L.T.U(2011).The plot being typical dance show has nothing new than what you might see on TV plus some ups and downs as mentioned,so the actors(dancers) are what you all saw in the reality shows.But they have all taken the trouble to show a great performance here.Remo's rapport with them is seen evidently in  the movie.What more is needed by a director to take the best out of his actors.Prabhudeva has done well,Truly the MJ of India.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:

The first 3-D dance film....this was what was shown everywhere.It has worked wonders as far as collections are concerned which are discussed in detail below. Music hasn't given any chartbuster but yes, muqabla song did create some sort of rave. Music plays half the promotions for a film, and here they get 4/5 for it

COLLECTIONS:

The film has got 60% occupancy on an average on the opening day across the nation.Its far better than what Special 26 got(30%). The fan following of all the stars including the ones behind the scenes have shown immense faith by watching the film in theatres.Surprise awaits if it turns out to be a hit at the box office.

USP:

Movies always teach you if you are willing to learn something.Learn some dance now.Prabhudeva and all the dancers are truly the USP of the film along with Ganesh Acharya and Remo D'Souza.

FLAWS:

Why is a 3D film.Even 2D version is almost the same.Bollywood hasne used the 3D format well anytime,the exception being Vikram Bhatt.Also ABCD has a youth appeal,not for all the masses to enjoy.

FINAL VERDICT:

One time watch or wait for the DVD if you are so patient.

RATINGS:

3/5

PREMACHI GOSHTA

PLOT:

Ever imagined meeting a stranger and sharing your life with him/her? Ever imagined coming closer to such strangers? Ever thought of love beyond a relationship and a relationship beyond love? Well, whatever is your answer, this movie will surely define it. We all might have experienced or read stories of lost love like for example THE NIGHT TRAIN AT DEOLI, but what if the stranger reciprocates your feelings and you get a chance(for love of course).This movie simplies love and relationship. A refreshing romantic movie to watch for all Marathi fans and Satish Rajwade die-hard fans.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:

Vintage is the only word that can express my feelings.With Atul Kulkarni,Sagarika Ghatage,Sulekha Talwalkar etc. the casting should get 5/5 here. Satish Rajwade needs no mention. You might have heard of directors getting the best out of actors, but Satish sir makes them the best. Right from Sachin Khedekar from Mrugajal, Neelam Shirke from Asambhav, Sandeep Kulkarni and Amruta Khanvilkar from Gaiir, Swapnil Joshi from Mumbai Pune Mumbai, amongst others,To add to this,even Satish Rajwade has an altogether different fan following for his acting.Satish Rajwade gives us one more stellar performer in Atul Kulkarni here.Yes.this is definitely the time for Bollywood people to think of casting Atul Kulkarni in a romantic role now.Rohini Hatatngadi leaves an impression.Sagarika Ghatage and Sulekha Talwalkar have proved it already and this movie adds to their career graph well,especially for Sagarika, whose last outing in hindi was a dud.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:

Surely something you might not have missed. All the team has a connection with people big and small.Coupled with the must listen music, the promotions have fared the best.

COLLECTIONS:

Though no official reports are out yet, this movie may stay as we have heard positive mouth publicity and keeping in mind the cast.

USP:

Satish Rajwade,the plot, the title (reminds us about Eka lagnachi....),songs,actors......the list goes on.....

FLAWS:

Why not hindi....people should see Atul Kulkarni and Sagarika at their best now...Satish Rajwade has it to make a name there. Otherwise no flaws in the movie.Perfect piece from the king of suspense and thriller.

FINAL VERDICT:

Need I say anything, Go on.....classic one.

RATING:

5/5

PREMACHI GOSHTA - MUSIC REVIEW

ABOUT THE ALBUM:

For all the non-Marathi speaking readers,this is a Marathi album.The officially released album contains 4 songs:2 duets,1 solo and an instrumental piece.The music is composed by the rising stars of the Marathi film world, Avinash - Vishwajeet. This duo has given some great songs that will be a part of your collection,undoubtedly. To add to this, certainly this album is worth listening.The setting of the songs will be thoroughly covered in my movie review.I wont be providing any links here and would request you to support our industry by buying this album.

SONGS:

1) OLYA SANJVELI(DUET):

You got to listen to this song. Truly mesmerising.The catchy lyrics will catch you the moment you hear it.Keeping is mind people's taste for romance,yes this will stay with more to come. Swapnil Bandodlar creates a classic here after Ka Kalena,the last song he sung for the duo for a Satish Rajwade film.Bela Shende is a gem to our industry,and her voice here will soothe your mind for sure.

2) OLYA SANJVELI(UNPLUGGED):

Thumbs up for recreating the duet to a solo.This time its even better with the score changing a little bit.This song increases the graph of the composers,they are to stay here.Pretty much the same as the duet but still different. 5/5 for the lyrics and for keeping its essence in the song.

3) HARAVTO SUKHACHA:

Just one word for it: WOW. For all those who love someone, thinking beyond a relationship, a bit of lost love,blah blah blah you will feel the lyrics. Kailash Kher gives an impact here what he did for CHAND SIFARISH in FANAA. He had only a bit in the song,but created a maserpiece then. SAME HERE. This song is truly a masterpiece with Hrishikesh Ranade and Bela Shende and an ably supportive Kailash Kher. Will surely give you a nostalgic feeling when you'll listen to this song after some years.

4) CLUB MIX THEME:

Hollywood is here. Bollywood might have copied west before, but no one created a blend of west and east. This piece surely does so. After the theme song in Mumbai Pune Mmbai, The duo live up to the expectations.Even better than the former.

VERDICT:

Why talk bad just to show some flaws,lets accept the fact that we crave for variety. Take a bow Avinash-Vishwajeet. Overall a must hear album for one and all. Especially English songs loving community, who neglect indian music, other music might be great, but a song is only remembered if you feel the lyrics it and not just listen to it.

RATING:

4.5/5

Hollywood on Hire:- TEARS OF THE SUN

For all the Die Hard fans, this movie is one of the lesser known works of Bruce Willis. This 2003 action flick, combines the coolness of a Navy Seal lieutnant and the in-your-face beauty of an american doctor, for two hours of thrill packed rescue stunts ever pulled on reel life.

PLOT:-

Lt. Waters and his Navy Seals are sent to Nigeria to rescuse Dr. Fiore. Simple contact,secure and extract procedure right?Well, what follows is a mission re-edit when Fiore refuses to leave in favor of her patients. And then things start getting ugly.

VISUALS:-

The movie features standard action filming. Not much CGI- fest. The african jungle and its  gloomy weather has been perfectly captured on screen.

USP:-

 Bruce Willis, with his gritty look   and Monica Bellucci, with her oomph factor .. do give this film a good overall effect.The close-shave situations are well executed

HIGHLIGHTS:-

Although movies like this have been tackled in the past, this one does give a fresh look in the lives of the war-torn people

in Africa.

VERDICT:-

Decent film, Bruce-willis material.

RATING:-
3 /5

INTRODUCING A NEW SECTION

Hello readers,

          I would like to thank you all on behalf of our team for the support and feedback we got on our facebook and google+ accounts.We at review arena have decided to introduce a new section here which which have review about some must watch yesteryear's movies and music.The posts will be managed by our new author Akshay Narkar.I welcome him to this blog,and may we get the same increasing support from you as you have given me.I would also like to welcome .Reviews of new movies will be posted every saturday along with such movies in their respective genre section.Have a nice day :-).So expect some cool posts from us now.

Regards,

Viraj V. Baraskar(Admin and author)

Hollywood on Hire: TOY STORY

INTRO:-

This movie brings back good old 90's memories. This 81 minute cgi film is a product by none other than  Steve Jobs,   and the quality and the depth of emotional satisfaction is evident from the start.

PLOT:-

The story revolves around Andy's toys, which spring to life when they are alone.  Woody, the cowboy doll, gets one heck of a ride as his life is rocked by the entrance of Buzz, a super cool astronaut toy. What ensues is a fantastic adventure in a world which we can remember faintly.

VISUALS:-

The movie has excellent graphic animation for the year 1995. Complex animation efforts are evident from the rich renderings of the scene. Everything is painstakingly created and presented as is evident from this shot.

USP:-

The film's script and storyline are derived from every child's fantasy, but impact even a grown up's mind. The idea of friends and enemies, love and loss are beautifully portrayed in this Pixar production.

HIGHLIGHT:-

All in all, the movie is a far cry from the current cgi movies. The movie begins with a boy's  toy world , and ends with a man's understanding. Being unique for its time , and leaving a message across almost two decades, does show the mark of a classic for me.

VERDICT:-

This one is definitely a keeper to "Infinity and Beyond!"

RATING:-

Personally I would give this movie a 4.5 /5

AKAASH VANI

PLOT:

This year started with an eye opener with BALAK PALAK.To add to it,Akash Vani does the same.A real eye opener for parents who make their children just swallow their decisions.The films tell us a romantic story of the titular characters played by Nushrat and Kartik(both pyaar ka punchnama fame).The story is a big exaggerated(how they fall in love) for almost 1 whole hour.A twist in the tale comes when Vani agrees to her parent's decision of arrange marriage.What happens is now all that is worth watching.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:

The movie lacks glamour,but you will remember this one only because of the hit pair of the lead.Luv Ranjan has done a masterpiece with this one.The movie may suffer due to stiff competition from Race 2,but may not have any competition from Main Krishna hoon or Vishwaroopan that much.Overall the team stikes once again here to send a nice message.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:

Both are average.Nothing new or out of the box done in both department,but the fact that the film is from the Pyaar ka... team certainly strikes us and with this film we will surely look forward for Luv's movies.Expectations have increased now!

COLLECTIONS:
(To be updated soon)

USP:

The story and the team are the USP of the film.Certainly amust watch and an eye opener.

FLAWS:

No glamourous star cast may take it down a bit,but thats fine as this one has the power to take the whole team to a new height.

Final Verdict:
Eye opener.Must watch



Rating:
4/5

RACE 2

PLOT:

Race 2 had great expectations keeping in mind the mind boggling twists in RACE(2008).Also the climax of the film kept on hopes about Akshaye Khanna returning to the sequel.But race 2 is completely different from it.Style is the main theme of the film with some 'LOL' action,this should have been vice versa(with only action in mind).The film's heart lies in Saif wanting to make quick money and John looking for some revenge.Enter supercop(you may call him so) Anil Kapoor,ul be giggling at his vulgar one liners and the seducive Ameesha.Soon you will be left experiencing some superb stunts with a LOL moment sometimes.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:

The casting is bitter sweet,particularly because of the characters.Saif and John are at their best in the film with Anil Kapoor in his superb performance.But the females have nowhere to go.Read this statement as you like it.But their roles lack the intensity and depth Katrina and Bipasha had in the former and being a quasi-sequel it should take the franchisee to a new height.Abbas-Mustan are typical in here.They have given us great entertainers and this MAY go on so.The only dud is the script.Too much style has eaten the plot,which would have been better than what it is.Certainly a hollywood style film minus the attitude we show to such films.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:

The music will surely fade away as new albums release.The music is not what you would have expected from such a team,keeping in mind their past record.Promotions score full marks.The stylish promos shown on televisions and radio stations are upto the mark.Race(2008) also played a part in the promotions owing to its content,which lacks here.

COLLECTIONS:

A bumper start to the film.13.75 crore collection on day one surely hints us about the film collecting nearly 50 crores in the first week.But some bad word of mouth and initial reports may turn this off.

USP:

John,Saif and Anil Kapoor...Superb performance by all. Ameesha is the only female lead who has some scope to remember.The stunts are awesome.

FLAWS:

STYLE.It has ruined the plot somewhat.Too much style is like eating a dish with too much salt.We need it but too much of it... :-)

FINAL VERDICT:

Go on for it.Definitely a one time watch.

RATING:
3/5

MUMBAI MIRROR

PLOT:

This friday opens up with women centric stories...or we may atleast think so.Mumbai mirror throws light upon the abuse of women.Sort of action,sort of drama,forced humor etc is what this film is about.Its a  story about a police officer(Sachiin Joshi,with an extra 'I') who likes to sleep with women,but shows concern towards women being abused.He has a big debt with a bookie(Aditya Pancholi).Soon enters the big villain and you will all be left scratching your head as the story unfolds.Its  a one time watch for those who have nothing to do.

TEAM AND PERFORMANCE:

The casting is not upto the mark as you would expect.Even the story is lifted from hollywood movie L.A.Confidential it seems.So comparing the two,this movie might not leave a mark as far as the audience are concerned.The director Ankush Bhatt does a fairly good job, but the boring story is what will eat his talent here.Prakash Raj is what you would want from him.But Prashant Narayanan(murder 2 fame),why did he choose such a project :-) The film doesnt stand up partly due to thier team and story.

MUSIC AND PROMOTIONS:

This is where it scores a point.The music had no expectations but yet managed to stay and do well.Promotions were fair enough.Nice job by the team.

COLLECTIONS:
(TO BE UPDATED SOON)

USP:

Prakash Raj and Prashant Narayanan(this guy deserved something even better) fans may cheer

FLAWS:

Boring story.Loose plot.You will surely leave the theatre in between to buy snacks or to freshen up yourself (almost everyone in the half packed theatre did)

FINAL VERDICT:

This might be the smallest review I will ever write.Works only for some scenes.Yawn! have a nice day

RATING:
2/5

SOME CONFIRMED AND TENTATIVE RELEASES IN 2013 (QUARTER 1)

25th JANUARY:

1) Akaash Vani

*ing Kartik Tiwari and Nushrat Bharucha(both, pyaar ka puchnama fame)

2)Main Krishna hoon

*ing Juhi Chawla and Rajnessh Duggal
Directed By Rajiv Ruia(My Friend Ganesha fame)

3)Race 2:

*ing Anil Kapoor,Siaf Ali Khan,John Abraham,Amisha Patel,Deepika Padukone,Jacqueline Fernandez,Bipasha Basu(Special Appearance)

4)Vishwaroopam(Hindi Tamil And Telugu):

*ing Kamal Hassan,Pooja Kumar,Rahul Bose,Andrea Jeremiah,Jaideep Ahlawat(GoW fame)

1st FEBRUARY:
1)Listen...Amaya

*ing Faarooq Shaikh,Deepti Naval,Swara Bhaskar and others.

2)Mai..

*ing Asha Bhosle,Padmini Kolhapure,Shivani Joshi,Ram Kapoor,Navin Kaushik and Anupam Kher

8th FEBRUARY:
1)Special 26:
*ing Akshay Kumar,Kajal Agarwal,Manoj Bajpai,Jimmy Shergill and Anupam Kher

2)ABCD - Any Body Can Dance
*ing Prabhudeva,Ganesh Acharya
Directed By Remo D'souza

15th FEBRAUARY:1) Go Goa Gone

*ing Saif Ali Khan,Kunal Khemu,Vir Das,Puja Gupta

2)Jayantabhai ki love story:
*ing Vivek Oberoi and Neha Sharma(Kya Super kool.... fame)

3)Murder 3
*ing Randeep Hooda,Sara Loren,Aditi Rao Hydari

22th FEBRUARY:
1)Zila Ghaziabad
*ing Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi,Vivek Oberoi,Rajpal Yadav,Minissha Lamba

2)Kai Po Che!
*ing Sushant Singh Rajput, Raj Kumar Yadav and Amit Sadh

1st MARCH:
1)Aatma:
*ing Bipasha Basu nad Nawazuddin Siddique

2)Ankur Arora Murder Case:
*ing Kay Kay Menon,Arjun Mathur

3)I,Me aur Main
*ing John Abraham,Prachi Desai and Chitragandha Singh

4)The Attacks of 26/11
*ing Nana Patekar

5)Saare Jaha Se Mehnga
*ing Sanjay Mishra,Zakir hussain(Johny Gaddar fame) and others.

8th MARCH:
1)Gulab gang
*ing Madhuri Dixit,Juhi Chawla,Mahie Gill,Shilpa Shunkla,Tanishtha Chatterjee.

2)Saheb Biwi aur Gangster Returns
*ing Irrfan Khan,Jimmy Shergill,Soha Ali Khan,Mahir Gill.

15th MARCH:
1) 3G
*ing Neil Nitin Mukesh and Sonal Chauhan

2)Jolly L.L.B.:
*ing Arshad Warsi,Amrita Rao,Boman Irani.

3)Mere Dad Ki Maruti
*ing Ravi Kissen,RAm Kapoor and others.

4)Tara - Ek Banjaran
*ing Rekha Rana and Rohan Shroff

29th MARCH:
Himmatwala
*ing Ajay Devgn,Tamannaah