The Movie Review Thread

ssk_the_gr8

Make Way the LORD is Here
This is the movie review thread where you post reviews of movies that have just been released i.e. in the current week.So that TDF members can save time/money from being wasted on useless movies :razz:

the reviews have to be critical reviews
they cannot be a "5 star" or "must watch" or "love the acting"

you dont need to write a huge article but the reviews cannot be one liners.
The reviews have to be original, don't just copy stuff from somewhere.

I would want people to dabble in the following:

1. Theme.
2. Plot.
3. Character development.
4. Story and direction.
5. Screenplay.
6. Overall entertainment value
7. Cinematography
8. Background scores

These are just suggestions.You can dabble in whatever pleases you. :)

Please do conclude your review with ratings , we shall use a 5 point/star scale which is quite common

and like always no spoilers! and if you must then do use spoiler tags

and make sure when you write the reviews to not give away much about the story or characters.

All movies released after June 1st are eligible for a critical review.

And , one last thing this is strictly a Review thread, so keep the commenting on other's reviews to a minimum. Try to post only reviews here and preferably not comment as the moderators will moderate.

Happy Reviewing! :smile:
 
OP
ssk_the_gr8

ssk_the_gr8

Make Way the LORD is Here
Shaitan

Shaitan

Directed by - Bijoy Nambiar

Starring - Rajeev Khandelwal, Kalki Koechlin, Shiv Pandit, Rajit Kapoor, Gulshan Devaiya, Kirti Kulhari, Rajat Barmecha

The movie is dark.. like all anurag kashyap's movies.
It's a thriller , quite different from the regular bollywood stuff we get
The dialogues are hard hitting, the screenplay is awesome and the cinematography too.

Special mention for the awesome background score which is simply delightful and so right according to the movie.
the khoya khoya chand remix is very good and the use of this song in the movie is simply superb.

Each actor has done justice to their roles, all the 5 young actors have done well.

it is a movie aimed at the youth and they will esp. enjoy it.

overall it's good entertainment& it's worth the money. I would say it's a must watch.

i would rate it as 3.5/5
 

mohityadavx

Youngling
Shagird

Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia

Starring : Nana Patekar, Mohit Ahlawat and Rimi Sen

First of all before i start this review I want to tell u I really love Nana Patekar's work whenever he act as a cop so review would be bit biased.

Inspector Hanumant Singh (Nana Patekar) is a corrupt police officer loyal to none. The story revolves about how a new sub inspector Mohit . Mohit a new officer is an honest officer but is not able to cop up with his life due to his friends always pulling his leg and his incompetence at academic level.

The story is perfecti and till end u cannot guess its end. The actors played their part very well and both Nana Patekar were Mohit were good. Rimi Sen was just to fill the gap of an actress.

Definitely a must watch if u liked Ab Tak Chappan / Tiranga/ Yashwant and even if u didn't liked these movies well just watch this one to increase one more count to Nana's fan!!!

Spoiler below
Death of Nana and Mohit in the end was dissappointing

Rating :- 4/5
 

rhitwick

Democracy is a myth
Bheja Fry 2 5.8/10 (I'm not used to rate in 5, so plz bear with me)

Just coming from the show.

Theme: So the original idiot is back but this time with less bang. Bharatbhushan wins a reality show. He gets a free cruise trip as a complementary gift. But surprises are waiting for him and he's waiting to meet them.

Character development: Bharatbhushan is well established character. In this installment he gets few new people to fry their "bheja". Kay Kay Menon is remarkable one of them. Suresh Menon's character is not much explored and Minisha Lamba is just the another beautiful girl.

Story and direction: Story or theme is forced and direction is loose and at time clueless. What is being done and why no one seems to care. And what is with so many close ups? At time even the 70MM screen could not fill the whole face half of head and chin was covered. Now imagine how close the close-up scenes were.

Cast: Vinay Pathak is what you'd go to see but would be disappointed. This is such a weak script even he can't save it. Though he would made you laugh but you would be ashamed after as the reason was such a silly joke. Suresh Menon's role is short but sweet. Kay Kay Menon does good job. And why was there Amol Gupte? What did his character contribute in the movie apart from stretching the screen time? That was real silly job.

Overall entertainment value: First half is very slow and boring, and if you survive to reach to second half you might enjoy it. Something similar to "Yamla Pagla Deewana" that movie never wanted to be serious and fun began after second half.

Cinematography: Only at one moment the cameraman tries to capture the beautiful view of the beach. That was the sunset scene and that lasts only 2-3 seconds! Damn!

Background scores: Vinay pathak is always singing so there you got your background score.

Verdict: Those who have not yet seen this movie, wait for the DVD release and watch it at your home. Don't waste your money watching it in cinema hall.
 

rhitwick

Democracy is a myth
Transformers: Dark of the Moon 8/10

Went for the paid preview at Cinemastar in Thane. Show was @9PM and costed me Rs 140/-
Runtime: 150 mins
Plot: Are you crazy that you search for a plot in a Transformer movie?!!! I'm not so I did not.
Still if you are being too demanding, it goes like this...long long ago there was a war between Decepticons and Cybertrons. One Autobot escaped the scene witha pathbreaking tech and crash landed at moon. Eventually Autobots living in Earth come to know about this and recover the spaceship and its lone autobot "The Sentinel".
The Sentinel actually had flown away with 100 pillars which would can create a bridge by which he can bring Cybertron to earth. For this they want to make earth as shelter and needs to destroy it. (What you are reading a spoiler and still not getting it?!!! Well, I told you at first don't force me tell its plot)

Character development: It has no scope to pay attention to human actors. Hence not much contribution from 'em.

direction: Michael Bay hit the spot right this time. No nonsense jokes, unnecessary romance scenes. You get what you have came here for. WAR!!!

Overall entertainment value: If you want a good story along with awesome action, then you would have stopped watching Transformers series after watching the first part, if you are not...then this movie is for you. Yeah for you only. Minds blown!!! Awesome action...just fcking awesome!!!

Cinematography: Yeah...a hell lot improved this time. He has abandoned the shaky camera this time. You could finish an action scene without catching headache. Fights are choreographed very well. A destroyed chicago and its destruction is gr8. Then again these all are CGI so I'm not sure if it would be counted in cinematography.

Background scores: As always LP. This time its "A thousand suns"

3D: Till first half the 3D is engazing but after that it really vanishes...

Loopholes:-
1>Megatron says he made a deal with Sentinel for rebuilding Cybertron. He could have done this long ago. Why wait for Optimus to come to earth and kick their asses.
2>The gal provokes Megatron!!! WTF!!! Seriously WTF!!! Mother of all cliches
3>Megatron attacks Sentinel just when Sentinel was about to finish Optimus Prime. Why not wait a few more seconds and then kill Sentinel. Instead both of them died now.
 
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sam9s

The High 5 Flyer
Transformers 3

Transformers 3 ......well since I loved the first two movies, my review might sound a bit biased, or off the charts. To start off with 2.5 hrs, the movie is pretty lengthy as against the conventional Hollywood movies. Given this fact I felt the action was a bit less than as compared to the second one. Dont get me wrong, I said less, that is quantity, not the quality, the quality was at par if not a whole lot better than the previous installments. But there was a major difference, the battle sequences in this part are at a much larger scale and give an epic feeling to the same. Watching the entire city devastated with 20 robots fighting and filling the entire screen at the same time was phenomenal
Michael Bay knew what to amend and this time delivered a much serious to the point movie. The humor is there but controlled and at no point goes cheesy or embarrassing as was with part 2. All the elements that could have been a threat to this installment were eliminated including M.Fox. Result as I said is more serious and plot oriented. But if we compare the shear quantity of action part 2 wins. If you remove all the cheesy elements and unnecessary humor from part 2 it would be as good or bad (if not better or worse) as this one.....

*i51.tinypic.com/29gkjn9.jpg

Official Trailer

[YOUTUBE]Sb8uD6go6iU[/YOUTUBE]

SAM's Rating : 6.8/10
Genre : Sci-Fi/Action
Movie : Transformers 3
Language : English
 

sam9s

The High 5 Flyer
PAUL

PAUL ......Well I had high expectations for this movie given the start cast team. This is the weakest thing Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have done till date. After Shawn of the dead, and the awesome Hot Fuzz, this landed a bit flat. the chemistry that was there in the previous installments was lacking here. Story particularly was week, very week....... infact there was practical nothing to follow. PAUL is an Alien who is captured by the govt years ago and now that the gov has got all the information they plan to experiment on him. PAUL run out from his facility and the rest cast helps him along the way to get to his destination, very predictable .............. This could have been okie if the presentation, story, and the comic aspect had been pretty good, but with the same avg stuff, the movie turned out to be okie for me. Still definitely once worth

*img546.imageshack.us/img546/4061/paulmovieposteritalian0.jpg

Official Trailer

[YOUTUBE]KdHUQtnJsyQ[/YOUTUBE]

SAM's Rating : 6.2/10
Genre : Sci-Fi/Comedy
Movie : PAUL
Language : English
 

rhitwick

Democracy is a myth
Delhi Belly 8.5/10

First and foremost, this movie is not for all and certainly not for the fainthearted. This is step jump from bollywood. This movie breaks so many orthodox myths, values and etc that its a revolution on its own. I really thank Aamir Khan for backing this project and kudos to our censor board for allowing this movie to release without a single cut.

Theme : Tashi(Imran Khan), Arun (Vir Das) and Nitin (Kunal) are three flat mates. Tashi is a journalist, Nitin is his photographer and Arun works in an ad-agency. Tashi's gf is an air-hostess. She gets a request from her friend that she has to drop a packet to a place on her behalf. She was too busy and the responsibility of dropping of package falls on Tashi. The movie starts to unfold its original events at this time. What happens next is mad chase and quirky, tongue-in-cheek humor which lasts with you even after movie ends (I still could not get over of the hangover and I watched the movie yesterday)

Character development : This is very neatly done. Every details is portrayed with great care. At titles you get to see the room, bathroom and kitchen where our protagonists stay. It helps you to imagine how the people would be who live there. Then as the movie progresses with every dialog and incident the characters are drawn carefully. Full marks here.

Direction : As Abhishek Chaubey surprised and shocked me in Ishqiya same does Abinay Deo. I would go one step forward and say he not only shocked but shattered a lot of people's masks of culture, elegance etc... This movie is what today's urban youth say, this movie is what todays urban youth do or deal with problems. Kudos to him for showing us this movie.
One more thing I want to add here, I've always hated the sh1t jokes in movie, I totally detest it and dislike it. I've always found that the scene having the sh1t joke contributes nothing to the storyline, in no-way it alters or modifies the main events. BUT, this movie is standing on the sh1t and the slogan they adopted from the movie "How to rob a bank" is very true for this movie. Sh1t happened and thus Delhi Belly happened.
I've only one complain for this movie. This movie is 5 minutes long. At the end it tries to conclude every fragment of story that resulted in the mayhem. Why was it necessary, a movie of such intellect should leave something for its audience to imagine or ponder upon later. This is the only issue I found in the movie which seemed to bother me. I don't think many here would have any problem with that.

Screenplay: Screenplay is the main pillar of this movie. Such dialogs and their filming are so cohesive that they never seemed acted or unnatural. The whole theater was laughing with every every dialog... loud scenes like "sh1t happens" with ViJay Raj, "Rakhle meri jaan" at brothel, "did they shave you before hanging" in taxi and lots of others are to be mentioned for bringing the house down with uncontrolled and fluent laughter. And add with this list all subtle blink-and-miss scenes and you get a perfect movie Delhi Belly.

Overall entertainment value: I laughed and laughed and laughed throughout the movie. I last laughed so much when I watched "Khichdi the movie" but that was a no-brainer and this movie not only has brain but heart and comedy at right place.

Acting: Everyone including Vir Das (or specially Vir Das?) acted superb. Vijay Raj once again proved that a talent like him is very less used in the industry.

Cinematography: This is another strong point of this movie. Rough and rugged looking Mumbai is what you get to see in this movie. Dirty flat, broken toilet, electric wire mesh running infront of your balcony, crowded gallis are so well captured that you never feel you are watching a place which you don't know. This could have been any city.

Background scores: Music of Ram Sampath is already superhit. The music alone got its fair share of controversies but still grew strong with every passing day. All the songs you have heard of this movie are used a background score and never affects the pace of the movie in any way.

Editing: Another fist class job here (apart from the concluding scenes at the end). This is a 96 mins movie and was shown without any break. In no time it felt long or you thought of taking a look at your watch to check out the time (because you really did not want miss anything on the screen)

Verdict: A must and must watch movie. This movie won't be liked by all for its bold and I-don't-care-what-you-think-of-me presentation. A lot would detest it for showing them mirror and a lot won't understand the humor in it or would simply bring the topic of culture, sankriti etc while swearing on it. Watch it if you think you can tolerate satires and black comedies. Don't watch it if you think you have the responsibility and ability to judge what is right and what is wrong for others. This movie is obviously not for you. Stay out of this because at the end you would end-up abusing it.
 
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Anorion

Sith Lord
Staff member
Admin
"This movie breaks so many orthodox myths, values and etc that its a revolution on its own. "
Urf Professor (Video 2001) - IMDb back in 2001, authentic lingo, got thrown out by the censor board, also manages to rise below vulgarity, unliek db

umm caught Shaitan for 50 bucks morning show lol

1. Theme : bunch of high kids and their depraved lives
2. Plot : kids kill two people in an accident and try to cover it up
3. Character development : NA. There was potential in the gamer's char, and some others, but mostly it seems as if the movie is made for kalki and none of the chars are truly fleshed out. None of them are motivated lol. You cannot really relate to the "darkness" in these guiz, because the demons are not fleshed out, they are just random and insane. enjoying this movie is liek watching a mentally retarded person and finding it entertaining.
4. Story and direction : hmmm. no story at all, very good direction though.
5. Screenplay : this movie has got this just right. The screenplay is so good that even if you dont relate to anything in the movie at all, the screenplay will get you going. There are some smart techniques thrown in borrowed liberally from Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream but thats been already done in Dev D so. There are some pretty neat gimmicks like "Flashback in a flashback". This is the only part where the movie explores some new ground.
6. Overall entertainment value : it was a painful watch, seems they got the movie out for kicks, wouldnt watch it again
7. Cinematography : excellent. some neat camera tricks as well. Theres a long,continuous shot which ends in a man falling off a building, no wires visible, pretty hard to pull off. This was lifted straight from *www.imdb.com/title/tt0114558/, but still a hard shot to pull of.
8. Background scores : gimmicky. the heavy metal kicked in well, a lot of it was synthesized, as if the scorers were made to listen to nine inch nails before coming up with the score... There was potential for an electronica based soundtrack, but didnt happen in this movie.

This is for Delhi Belly

1. Theme - this is a dark comedy romp
2. Plot - a diamond courier and a sample for the doctor get exchanged, and then everyone basically runs around dodging bullets and punchlines
3. Character development - Fully developed, they kept fleshing em out more and more, so this was pretty well done. All the chars are consistent, and even realistic for most of the time.
4. Story and direction - pretty tight, well written story. theres more story than storytelling, which is rare in movies nowadays.
5. Screenplay - doesnt really rise above average, but it was not bad.
6. Overall entertainment value - Id give this a high rating, but it can get pretty painful in bits. This movie wont get any awards for using swear words in a gratuitous manner ;). Its like relying on a bunch of kids to burst out laughing everytime someone says "homosexual". Only there are a ton of other words used instead. Some things the movie handled well (teh "sample") and somethings it totally didnt handle as well (flower on the dead body)
7. Cinematography - standard fare, nothing ground-breaking, very traditional approach, but works like a charm by totally putting the focus on the chars
8. Background scores - very good and diverse, they have tried to do something different here, and the choice of background music is totally hilarious at times
 

Anorion

Sith Lord
Staff member
Admin
Cowboys & Aliens

1. Theme, Story & Plot: this is a sci-fi western, where a bunch of aliens land up in a very canyony part of the US (with Indians, Highway Robbers and of course, Cowboys), with an intention of joining in the gold rush. There are a ton of anachronisms, so this is not the authentic wild west by a long shot. The movie is full of tributes to other westerns, including McKenna's Gold and Seven Samurai, so western addicts will be satisfied. Otherwise the main story loses steam somewhere in the middle, and seems a little dragged out so the pacing is waay off for a sci-fi flick. There are a bunch of big plot holes though
the aliens are supposed to hate the sunlight but when they do come out in the open, this does not seem to affect them at all...
so this is not a tight story by any means.

3. Character development: nothing much here, stock techniques are used to establish chars (traumatic flashbacks anyone?) so the protagonist is sort of like a mystery figure with no past. The other chars are great, there is Harisson Ford playing a badass cowboy, and this role was pretty well written. Theres also his useless son who actually benefits from the alien invasion, which was also a complex development path for a char. Olivia Wilde plays some Celina Jaitley type char for some time, and then breaks out into a full fledged action role, which is short but not fleshed out enough. This role was wasted, or not necessary. Theres also a kid and a bunch of other folks as well, so this movie strikes a good balance between a bunch of protagonists and an ensamble.

4. Direction: theres good direction and bad direction, this one was neither, just painfully appropriate all the time. They had a script to stick to, and they did it pretty well, nothing much to say here.

5. Screenplay : pretty standard western fare, which switched to the fast tracking and chaotic movements common to monster flicks whenever the aliens came on screen. the techniques work well, but are not new or unique to the movie. the whole story could have been made much shorter, especially on the editing table.

6. Overall entertainment value : not too memorable, not even worth a one time watch unless you particularly like westerns and alien type movies. while its all done well, there is nothing particularly endearing in here.

8. Background scores : standard western stuff here

there was a lot of potential here. Did not read the graphic novels, but there is a lot of history between farm animals and aliens. I thought a lot of these myths would be exploited in the film (animal mutilation, cow/sheep abduction etc). While these were shown exactly the way they were supposed to be, they werent explained, so unless you have outside knowledge of all this, you wont really pick it up from the film. Plus they used the huckleberry-finn type english in the beginning of the film, then switched to normal sounding english later on, a big mistake IMO especially for a period film. the aliens themselves look like a serpent and a hunter had a baby, or like prawns were force-fed steroids... in other words... horrible, and not in a good way. It was also a fertile ground for a lot more humour than there already is in the movie (theres plenty, but nowhere will you burst out laughing), but this wasnt done either.
 

rhitwick

Democracy is a myth
Mujhse fraandship karoge 6.4/10

Ok,ok...all of you are thinking how could I've watched this movie?! Such a bad name! and movies like this had to be bad...even worse than "Rascals".

The answer is impulse and favor. My room-mate insisted and as earlier I made him see movies that I like I had to go this time with him. So, there I was at Cinemax, wonder mall @10.30PM last night with a disgust in my mind and little hope that I would like this movie. The scary thought was that the movie had songs!!!

Let me analyze the movie first and would provide my verdict at the end.

Theme: The story is set in fashion technology college. Vishal and Rahul are friends and Malavika and Preity are friends. Vishal take the identity of Rahul in facebook and similar happened with Preity. They chat, impress each other and fall in love. The catch here is that in real life Vishal and Preity can't tolerate each other. One minute with each other would translate into a fight.
Well, a known premise with predictable twists and climax. Concept matches (very slight and I'm just nitpicking) with "10 things I hate about you" and "You've got mail".

Character development : The main assets of the movie are its vibrant characters. They are young, enthusiastic and bring the energy on screen. From start importance is given to main leads though you never get the feeling that some odd boys and girls are playing the part of being their friends only.

Direction : Crisp, smart and shiny (why did I use 'shiny' I don't know. It just felt right). Apart from the climax scene never I found the direction is out of control. The direction really helped developing the charactes more. Good job there director sir!

Screenplay: The concept is old, tried and tested. Making a movie at this time based on an old concept and drawing audience to it is not easy. It has no big stars, not much promotions, and bad songs...and a worst title ever. So, it had to had something right for it to survive. Screenplay and dialoge writing are the two strong pillars that it depends on. Screenplay is smart and you could relate to the story without feeling out of place. And dialoges are a real gem of the movie.
When is the last time you've heard in a movie where two girls chatting and one jokingly says to other "sada boyfriendbati bhabo"!!!
If anyone of you had watched it...I'm not aware of ur opinion but I liked the dialogues. They are the reason the movie could be a hit (or should be)

(well, there are few moments when its tacky and too predictable twists. I agree those are weak points but its like riding a faulty mercedese. The ride is smooth and comforting but the engine stops working sometimes but for very short time)

Acting: The two main protagonists play their part very well. Its a treat to watch them fight or pulling each others leg. Apart from few scenes it never felt that they are acting in a movie. Apart from the main lead..the other important and unavoidable characters are their friends. All characters are drawn very well

Cinematography: I'm not sure about cinematography. No extra effort there. Nothing exceptional there that I could mention in a review.

Background scores and songs: I did not like the songs. Period.

Editing: Editing is good. Never felt the movie was stretched beyond its limit.

Overall entertainment value: I liked the movie. Maybe I went with a negative expectation (not even zero) It surprised me more. i did not expect it to be such smart, hip or light. It did not bore me (well a few moments though). If not in a cinema theater...a DVD watch is must.

Verdict: Like most of you even I had disliked the movie the moment I heard the name. What kind of looser keeps a name like that! That was the only repulsive factor which discouraged me to even pay attention to its trailers. I'm happy that I knew nothing about the movie and that can be one of the many reasons I liked it more.
The movie is funny, light, smart and entertaining. A perfect movie to catch on a lazy afternoon with your friends.
 
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sam9s

The High 5 Flyer
The King's Speech

The King's Speech ....... Finally decided toi give this movie a play, and boy I am glad I did. First thing first I was simply blown away by the immaculate performance by Colin Firth as the stammering King George IV. The entire movie just heavily rest on his shoulders. Despite the obvious spot on direction the performance of Colin takes it to a new level. The plot revolves around King George VI, who is plagued by a dreaded stammer which results in low esteem and who starts to consider himself unfit to be the king, and an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue who helps him to regain his control over his speech and his low esteem as well. This movie is a perfect example of how a character driven movie is then a plot driven. Within first half hour the audience can come to the conclusion, what would be the course of the movie, but it the characters, specially Colin as K.George IV and Geoffrey Rush as Lione who drive the movie all along and its a pleasure to watch their chemistry, leading to a warm climax that does bring few tears in your eyes. Absolute Worth a watch

*img191.imageshack.us/img191/183/thekingsspeech8309poste.jpg

Official Trailer

[YOUTUBE]pzI4D6dyp_o[/YOUTUBE]

SAM's Rating : 7.8/10
Genre : Drama
Movie : The King's Speech
Language : English
 

stonecaper

SuperMASSiVE
Baishey Srabon (22nd Sravana) (Bengali)

My review -
Srijit Mukherjee is back, and how!! After he wowed us in “Autograph”, He Does it again with 22 Shey Srabon.This time it’s a thriller and it seems he has done it much better this time.
The story is original at best. There is a poetic serial killer at large in Kolkata, who has already committed four murders (the brilliant opening scene shows him committing one) leaving lines of Bengali poetry as signatures.Clueless about where to start the investigation, rookie Cop Avijit (Parambrata) seeks help of a troubled and suspended Veteran Prabir (Prosenjit).And ultimately solves the case. Or does he??

Let’s start with the acting first, and it’s got to start with Mr.Prosenjit Chatterjee.if you have loved him as the charming superstar-with-a-midlife-crisis Arun Chatterjee in “Autograph”, his alcoholic-tough-cop-with-with-a-dirty mouth-and-killer-attitude Prabir Roy Chowdhury will startle you. He has the best lines in the movie (albeit with a wide array of some of the choicest Bengali swear words), and the way he acts, it seems that it was totally justified. Where he doesn’t speak, he lets his eyes do all the talking. From the tired but piercing gaze when parambrata’s Avijit goes to meet him at first, to the vacant stares during flashbacks, finishing finally with the sick brilliance at climax, his eyes compel you to love him and hate him, all at the same time. As he had said in an interview that “No other hero would dare do this role” is well put, because frankly no other hero could do this role. Parambrata does a swell job too, acting as a perfect foil to Prosenjit’s character. His Avijit is Clumsy but inspired, charming but insecure and adorable but irritating. He may have done a course on direction but it’s evident that he would never need an acting course.the romantic scenes (mostly in two songs “Je kota Din” and “Ekbaar Bol”) of him with Raima are a joy to watch, except the Do-jism-ek-Jaan-ek-Toothbrush scene of course, that’s gross!! Also watch out for the climax where he goes head to head with Prosenjit. Raima on the other hand is a natural and plays the cute reporter girlfriend act with élan.Abir Chatterjee does well as Raima’s Childhood friend and boasts of a very good comic timing. He looks very good-boyish too, but as the cliché goes, the good boy never gets the girl. Rajesh Sharma is superbly restrained as the top cop, and lets you believe yet again that he is one of the most underrated actors in Bengali cinema.

But the Surprise revelation in 22 Shey Srabon is Goutam Ghosh.His portrayal of the manic-depressive poet Nibaran Chakrabarty is awesome. The surrealism and pathos that he inserts as he emotes, amazes you and also creates a lump in your throat. The scene in the railway station where he recites a poem to his alcoholic buddy would surely take your breath away. His Character has the director’s sympathy and he makes sure he gets yours too.

The Screenplay is tight; there is not a single minute of lag. It has the right amounts of suspense, thrill and chill with occasional bits of romance and comedy thrown in. The Dialogue is appropriate to say the least. Its satiric, surreal at parts and funny too, having just the right ratio of Bengali and English in it. The Gillette Mach III razor-sharp editing by Editor Bodhaditya Banerjee keeps with manic pace of the movie.

The Cinematography by DOP Soumik Haldar,is another great reason to see the movie. The Red One Camera has never been used better recently. The dingy bylanes of Harkata Gali, or the plush love nest of Avijit and Amrita, every frame is a delight to the sore eyes ,best Being the last scene of Course. Then there are some very good crane and steadycam shots which only enrich the experience. The dark goth tone used in Prabir and Nibaran’s Shack and the warm tone used in those romantic scenes are well thought out and are very very well executed.


Well, the Music is by Anupam Roy. Do I need to Say Anything else?? The Lyrics and Music are both wonderful and are placed very well in the movie, and well picturised too, best being the catchy “Ek Bar Bol” By Mr. Roy Himself. Rupams "Ei Srabon" , Raghav’s “Maati Khunre” , Rupankar’s “Gobheere Jao” and Anindya’s “Je Kota din” are all equally good and makes you wonder why still Bangla Music directors need a Kunal Ganjawala / Mohit Chauhan to record a Hit song. I mean Rupankar Vs. Mohit C., are you kidding me??

And now the direction. Srijit never pretends while directing 22 Shey,nor he ever plays the godman act manipulating the characters. The interplay of characters is unabashed, real and engrossing, the camera angles bizarre but very interesting and then there is that crackling climax. There are leitmotifs, most prominent being the wooden rocking-horse. But the cleverest are the homages spread across the whole movie. There is Guy Richie’s Wham-Bam-sorry-Ma’am style (Prabir’s Interrogation room Torture), Hitchcok like self-appearance, Top Gun like Girl in guy’s oversized shirt (Raima after the kiss and make up scene), Stoned-and-sad Boyfriend with a Strapped on Steadycam a La Dev.D and finally the theme of a deranged Psycho-fanatic Serial Killer and the Blue-goth tone reminiscent of David Lynch’s se7en.feluda references Are there too, but with a twist. But don’t let this writing fool you, these are nothing but marginal and are overshadowed by the Biggest Homage that Srijit pays - To Bangaliana itself and Kolkata (not only south, the whole one, thank heavens!!).The Movie is essentially very Bengali at Heart and that’s the best thing about it. There are Countless references of Bengali literature, cinema and poetry. The script, dialogue, acting and ahem..the Swear words are all Bengali and not bong. The “Magazastra” of Srijit is deadly here and it leaves you Spellbound.

22 Shey Srabon is a landmark in Bengali Cinema and much more than that. It makes you think, as well as keeps you on the edge of your comfortable multiplex seat.Take a Bow Srijit, you deserve it. Thanks for not turning 22 Shey Srabon into a melodramatic dishoom fest, but an intellectual murder thriller.

Okay, now for the Final question, should you watch it? Yes don’t you dare miss this If you are a Bangali and love Bangaliana or a good thriller or Both. If you are a “bong” and prefer Stefani Meyer/Sidney Sheldon over Tagore/Sunil Ganguly, give this a Miss. Go smoke your Bong Pipe elsewhere, or wait for the next Twilight Movie to Release,you Moron !!

*www.gomolo.in/Movie/MovieReviewUser.aspx?mid=41951&revID=1637535
 
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rhitwick

Democracy is a myth
Ra.One (3D) 6/10 (Fan rating 7/10)

So, being a SRK fanboy watching Ra.One was my priority. Watched it on 26th but was so angry that I took time to write a review on it. Why angry (well most you already guessed but lemme tell you again I'm a SRK fanboy....so SRK is not the reason)

Story/Concept/Theme: To win his son's heart, Shekhar programs a game with a villain that is much stronger than the superhero. But the artificial intelligence devised character of Ra.One finds a way to enter the real world. (from IMDB)
Well, its a known, tried and tested premise for any superhero movie. But there are movies which stood strong even using this cliched theme. Ra.One failed there. They could not convert the concept into a story.
6/10

Character Development: Apart from SRK and his son in movie none got enough screen-time to leave an impact on you. You just don't see others that often in the movie that their characters can be given a thought.
Apart from Prateek's character (SRK's son in movie) none got their character right.
Even the much hyped dad trying to catch-up with son's world theme is also wasted with one scene. A veteran like SRK whose main forte is emotion is wasted on this premise.
6/10

Direction: The director is Anubhav Sinha. The same director who gave us "Dus" and the legend "Cash"! (my bad, I unfortunately watched Cash in theater too. If only I knew it was THE Anubhav Sinha I would have not gone with much hope)
His direction sucks! He knew the concept but never knew how to do that. Tried to achieve too many things in the movie; father-son relationship, action, comedy, romance, melodrama all. And, as a result nothing came out of the hotchpotch perfectly.
And, what with the sick jokes?!!! Never in my life I've seen SRK doing such scenes...he never needed such scenes to make people laugh. The haters laugh at him without any reason and those of us who worship him, smile the moment he shows his face. Tese jokes are Salman-branded jokes, Golamal branded or all those Anees Bazmee branded.
And, so much hype on the action...then why so less action in movie?
Stay away from the movies this guy makes...he makes good trailers not movies (a$$hole!)
1/10 here

Screenplay: If you don't have story you can't write a screenplay (well, you actually do and thats why there are movies like Ready, Bodyguard or Double Dhaamal etc) but at least SRK deserves better than that.
Most of the time the screenplay seems to be uninterested in the happening of the movie story. Like you write "action and SRK wins" and then donot write about what happens in the action or how long it should continue, or the twists etc.
2/10 here

Acting: Leave SRK, it was his movie and I never find him overacting or underacting.
Kareena is wasted as an actor. (Apart from Imtiaz Ali all recent directors seem to use her as a beautiful object only. She's a good actress, give her a good role!)
Veterans like Sahana Goswami, Satish Shah and Suresh Menon wasted (I hate Anubhav Sinha more for this)
Apart from SRK, only two persons acted really well...Arjun Rampal as Ra.One and Aman Verma as Prateek.
6/10

Cinematography: Cinematography is good and commendable. Kareena just sets fire on the big screen in the Chammak Challo song. Action sequences are also shot very well.
7/10

Special Effects and 3D: This is the only part of the movie which is why it would be a milestone in hindi cinema history. A really amazing effort and at per with some great hollywood projects. Really good job here.
The car chase scene before interval and the CST destruction scenes are really very good and only those two moments you would like to shake all your disgusts against this movie.
9/10
The 3D effect is good. I've seen bad 3D movies than this. This movie would be much more enjoyable in 3D than 2D.

Song and background score: Songs are already superhit. Chammak challo, criminal, dilbara are good on ear. My fav. though is "Bhare Naina". Only one place where I found really good job with background music is at climax action scene.
8/10

Editing: Who the f@#k was the editor of this movie. Scenes are stretched, actions are not edited properly, few boring long melodrama scenes; a total mess-up.
3/10

Overall entertain value: If you have liked recent hits...Ready, Bodyguard, Golmaal series, you would love this movie else would leave you unsatisfied.
A time-pass movie for onetime view of course. Good action scenes and special-effects.
6/10

Verdict: After watching the movie I was disappointed and angry. I tried to understand why I'm disappointed and why I'm angry.

I found the answers for that...disappointed because I missed a storytelling there. Even the worst movies have a proper narration but this a$$hole director could not even get that properly. Next was anger....and that because we want best things from SRK always; he doing such mediocre movies is heartbreaking. For such ambitious project why not sign a good director (Sh1t, just found out...its his story, yes Anubhav Sinha's)

Well, its surely not the best movie in SRK's movie history but he surely took the special effects level to a new high.
Ra.One....Indian Avatar (shitty story with awesome special effects)
 
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rhitwick

Democracy is a myth
Rockstar 7.8/10

I've watched the movie on last Sunday (13-NOV-2011) but I refrained from writing a review on it. I was too excited after watching the movie, I just felt like going for the movie the next moment. I wanted this excitement to calm down so I could give more thought to what I had seen and I understood, to analyze scenes.

Its 4th day since I saw the movie I still feel like going for the movie again.

Let’s come to main task, i.e. review.

Story/Concept/Theme: The story is centered on Janardhan Jhakad. He wants to be a rockstar but doesnot have the passion in singing. He knows the right notes, right cords, good vocals but the audience finds something missing in him. One day his canteen manager advices him on the missing ingredient, and the missing ingredient is ‘pain’. He tells Janardhan to fall in love to feel pain. Now Janardhan has three tasks with him. Find a girl, fall in love and make sure that she breaks his heart. Rest is the movie. How everything goes wrong and not at all as he had planned.

(The premise is a very close to my heart process or what I’ve long observed a sure shot process of feeling pain. I don’t know how Imtiaz Ali knew of the same premise. :p )

Character development: Marvelous! Each and every character is hand crafted. The story does not pay attention to other characters that much so can’t compare other characters but the metamorphosis of Janardhan Jhakad to “Rockstar Jordan” is the best thing that has happened in Indian cinema after a long time.

Many people would complain about the movie length (3hrs it is!) even I also complained at first. When I think today I find the length justified. It actually helped in the character development. Things are handled slowly, so not in a moment you feel things too technical, flashy, edgy, smart…it had to be rugged, slow to keep in pace with Jordan’s life.

Direction: I’m a fan of Imtiaz Ali since the days of “Jab We Met”. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched the movie. There were days I’ve watched the movie in loop…continuous. I did not like “Love Aj-Kaal” that much but it was good too.

“Rockstar” is another gem from him. You know, you can trust him. Only in second half a few cliché’s are used. I would overlook them and that’s the reason I’ve deducted 2.2 points from rating. The way he handles love, none tries now-a-days. I’ve observed certain things of his directing/storytelling;
A strong, rebellion, mature and confident female character
A naïve, innocent, (sometimes) overconfident but good at heart male character
Realization is a big and strong point of his movies
Most of his movies are built on the dilemma or confusion of the male character “Do I love her or not?”

I liked it even more as he did not fall for some conventional ending. Or, a lot of people had already complained…there is no ending in the movie. I personally felt the way he left the character Jordan there could only be the best ending. Can’t incompleteness be an ending? It can, it sure can.

Screenpaly: The story is complemented by the screenplay. Innocent dialogues in the beginning and in later part dialogues full of angst, frustration and helplessness. Add this to a non-linear storytelling which adds a new angle to the story. Makes it unpredictable and scattered as the life of Jordan.

Acting: This movie belongs to Ranbir Kapoor. He owns it. In his past few movies he showed us his potential but it was Imtiaz Ali who churned out the best in him. Remember “Jab we met”? Prior to that Kareena Kapoor was only known for her beauty and hotness; everything changed since JWM happened. She is considered a good actress now. RK beautifully depicts the innocence, rage, frustration, passion, grief while performing the role of Jordan.

But, Imtiaz Ali (IA from now on) could not do the same with Nargis Fakhri. She is phail in acting. Bad dubbing and bad acting totally ruined her role. Being a novice I think this might be the best she could offer. I do not want to contradict with the choice of IA here but for fresh face a bit more research might have been required.

In rest of the cast come the canteen manager and the CEO of Platinum music. Both did their job well. No complaints.

Cinematography: Kashmir has been captured very beautifully. The scene where RK and Nargis talking under a tree while it’s snowing; a long shot just showed their intensity of their relationship. Throughout the movie such beautiful moments are captured very well, be it Prague, Delhi college campus or Jordan’s home.

Another mentionable thing is set-up, stages, lights are very well handled.

Songs and background score: Now this is another pillar of Rockstar of what it is. Let me tell you frankly, When I heard about Rockstar I thought it to be another movie in line of “Rock On”; later I heard the songs and I was like WTF A.R. Rehman did!!!? I liked none but “Katiya Karu”. I stopped listening to even that after one-two days.

Then the miracle happened, I saw the movie. The movie blew me away completely. For a 3hr long movie which has 10-12 actual songs it had every chance of boring the audience. BUT, the songs blended so well in the screenplay that I never felt their existence separately.

The “Kun faya” song which I hated earlier, I’m listening to it now to understand its meaning,; the “Nadan Parindey” song which I found badly composed earlier is now playing in loop in my mobile. I’ve found a few dark horses too of the album; the song “Meri bebasi”, “Sehar mein” and the musical “Sehnai” have become my favorite.

And I’m amazed by the lyrics of the songs,
From “nadan parindey” …. “kaaga re kaaga re mori itni araj tujhse chun chun khaiyo maans
khaiyo na tu naina more, khaiyo na tu naina mohe piya ke milan ki aas..”
And many more.

Just to update you all, I’m listening to the songs (all 14 of them including the musicals too) continuously since last Sunday. Every day I find something new in the lyrics. The music just grows on you.

Editing: Now this is where it could be improved. At least 10 mins of the movie could be edited. Rest is alright with me.

Overall entertainment value: Can a sad movie entertain you? Would you like to be saddened by paying money? If yes then this movie is for you. Do you have time to pass but not in serious mood? Do you want to unwind after a long and hard days of job? Stop. Don’t go for this movie. This is a heavy movie, might not suite your state of mind and you may end up disliking the movie.

For a long time we have not got a sweet and sad love story from Bollywood. I was waiting for something like it. My expectations are full-filled. I’ve got a movie which I’m going to watch in loop when it releases in DVD. (Planning for second viewing in theater very soon…searching company)

There, this is my opinion about the movie. I don’t know about you, your mind state, your take on life, love, pain, music and can’t tell if you would like it. BUT, should you watch it or not? Hell yes. Watch once. If not anything you would be rewarded with RK’s powerful acting and A.R.Rehman’s soul touching music.


Read this for Imtiaz Ali's take on the movie and clarifying many doubts. It mainly tells why he did on what he did.
This is SPOILER.
*t.co/D1rtjoCo
 
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quan chi

mortal kombat
DIRTY PICTURE
Is the picture really dirty?​

Well i am not much into reviews but still i think i should share my experience about this film here.
I wont get to or bore you with lengthy details but still will try to cover the important parts.

Before i begin i must say that if this movie is compared to the recent releases of bollywood(read bodyguard,desi boyz(though far better than the former) etc etc) then it should deserve at least 9/10.

Runtime: 2 hours 15 minutes

1.PLOT
I havent read much about silk smitha but whatever i have read i think it was almost enough to understand this film.Yes this film is based on silk smitha and revolves around her life only.

2.CAST&PERFORMANCE
I think the casting was appropriate.All the characters fits into their roles completely and almost perfectly.

As mentioned earlier this is a heroine based or in better words female dominant movie not a hero based.The entire film depends upon vidya balan and her only.Other characters just come and go.
Vidya balan did a pretty nice job in this film but i must say that there was nothing spectacular or outstanding about it.When she had the chance to do her best in this film.Even the film demanded the same from her.But nevertheless it wasnt bad or average too.
Nasseruddin shah on the other hand as a side actor steals the show.Yes he is a veteran actor and shouldnt be compared with vidya balan i know! But balan had the chance here to challenge him which i think she missed.

Oh! wait.. Yes! in above i have used the word spectacular.since i have used it let me elaborate it a little bit.:D
Through out the film that is after balan becomes smitha she keeps on flaunting her cleavage.For me i think it was a greater challenge for her.To test where the public is more interested there or in her acting.:D
Well for me i was mostly looking at her acting skills or her face(Read expressions:wink:).
We were 4-5 guys(friends/colleagues)but they were mostly getting gaga over the former part.:D.Then again as per this film they are mostly EEE(Entertainment,entertainment,entertainment) type of people.Still most of them liked the movie and praised her acting skill.

Tussar kapoor and emraan hashmi played their part well.But Emraan hashmi did what he does the best yes you got that right!:wink:

Other supporting actors were good too.

3.DIRECTION & presentation
To be honest i liked once upon a time in mumbai but i felt its climax was incomplete or unsatisfying.Which drained out some respect which it had build over within a couple of hours.I was a bit skeptical that this movie too might take the same path.But Milan Luthria dosent disappoints here.The climax is predictable and good.

If some flaws can be ignored then presentation is fluid.Co-relation between characters scenes etc is never lost.


4.DIALOGUES

Ah! the best part of this movie.It is filled with some awesome and witty dialogues.kudos for that!:D

5.CINEMATOGRAPHY

Good.if you have seen once upon a time...its a little bit similar.
6.MUSIC
Background music is well made.One song is already a hit :D The other 2 or 3 are also ok.

Now it is for you to decide if it is really dirty or not.
In the end i must say that you if you are a serious film lover and ofcourse not a pervert:D then you wont get bored of this movie you will be glued to your seat till the end.

Rating as given in the must watch thread 3.5/5.
 

ico

Super Moderator
Staff member
Rockstar - 3/10 * spoiler alert *

I had watched this movie around two weeks ago but couldn't give enough damn to write a review. But considering how weird the movie was and also because of the fact that I have not been able to sleep this night, I've decided that before I go to sleep, I'm gonna write a review.

Plot: You have a Haryanvi guy (Janardhan "Jordan" Jhakhar/Ranbir) who studies in Hindu college. He dreams of becoming a ROCKSTAAAH. His college canteen owner tells him that since he hasn't experienced pain in his life, something is missing in him. How clichéd. So he picks out a snobby hot Kashmiri girl (Heer Kaul/Nargis) from the neighbouring Stephens college and proposes to her. Somehow they become friends and after a couple of months, the Kashmiri hoe gets married and flies off to Praha with her husband.

Character development: is immense. The transformation of Jordan from a typical Indian boy to an Arab look-alike is hilarious. Even funnier is the fact that he ends up looking like a hippie. On the other hand, Heer changes from a fit hoe to a pitiable woman who'd end up dying because of a pretty simple intercourse.

Story and direction: Story and direction is very predictable. After experiencing the much anticipated pain in life, our hero is signed up by a bigshot music company and flown off to....where else? Praha. By the time, the hero and heroine pretty much realize that they <3 each other, but Heer doesn't give her consent because she's married. So, our hero like every hero goes to say "BYE" for the last time, sneaks in the heroine's house, gets caught and jailed. This means huge publicity for our ROCKTAHHH and his solo album is a hit.

I've never been a fan of typical Hero-Heroine movies like Jab We Met. Knowing that this movie was directed by the same director - Imtiaz Ali, I wasn't really interested in watching this movie. I really don't know, how in hell Indian directors end up making lengthy movies with such stupid plot? Much like I've taken 360 words to say, "This movie is crap."

Heer is dumped by her husband for obvious reasons, and comes back to India. She's suffering from bone marrow cancer so with our Hero around, her health tends to improve. But then.....carnal desires get heavy over them, Heer gets pregnant and goes into coma. She dies and Jordan rejuvenates his soul as a nadaan unshaven hippie.

Screenplay and performances: Dialogues were good in the beginning but the script had pretty much lost the plot around the hour's mark. I had gone with the hope that our dhakad Jhakhar boy would speak Haryanvi and I was disappointed.

Ranbir's acting was excellent. He pretty much delivered what the Director expected. Nargis Fakhri can't act but she's hot.

Cinematography: Kashmir was depicted beautifully. That's that.

Overall entertainment value: Non-sense plot for a 3 hour movie. If you're taking a chick along with you, you might find some bits of entertainment here and there. If you're a heartbroken majnu because of some chick's parents or the chick herself, you might be able to co-relate with Jordan's character. Deep inside, I was able to co-relate.

Music: Only "Sadda Haq" was good. "Nadaan Parinde" lyrics were good. Overall? Disappointing.
 

rhitwick

Democracy is a myth
Don 2 (3D)
Fan rating 7.5
Critic rating 6.3


Watched the movie on 24th Night. Being a SRK fan, watching a second day last show is disappointing for myself. But...better late than never.

Now, the main task.... review

Story/Concept/Theme: Don is back and this time wants to make an entry to europe drug market. But he has his rivals who want him dead. He then makes another plan to finish his contenders and make himself billions. Loot DCB plates! Rest of the movie is on how he executes this plan.

Character development: There is one character who is seen in the whole movie i.e. SRK. And his character is already developed. I was surprised to see his Don character to be so mean and witty this time. In Don1 he was not this witty. Then there was Roma and other few persons who just floats on surface. In short...if you are discussing character development, Don2 is not a fitting example.

Direction: Well, like many out there I'm a fan of Farhan Akhtar too. Many of you are there who have a blind faith that if Amir Khan makes a movie it must be some revolutionary movie, I've kinda same faith on Farhan Akhtar. Only revolution I found here is action choreography and camera work. Oh, and I must admit I appreciate the quirky dialogues. Nothing exceptional here...

One thing I've observed...I don't know if anyone would agree with me...is that Don is no more a overpowering, overshadowing supervillain anymore. He's kind of a super thief now. A bit like Jack Sparrow. Intelligent, sarcastic, mean and sleek.

Screenpaly: Screenpaly is good. It gets slow the moment Priyanka is on screen. I think Farhan was not sure how to use Roma's character. She was absent in 80% of the movie and just slowed down the pace whenever on screen. (oh that was not screenplay related...hmmm) I liked the dialogues. Though the theft idea was childish, at least the crew took it seriously.

Acting: SRK is handled properly. A bit more mean would have been better. Rest of the characters played along well.

Cinematography: Camerawork is really appreciative. A bit of Malaysia and Germany is captured well. Then comes camera movements in time of action, which was also good. not shaky, no un-necessary close-ups or focus on muscle or slow-moing the finisher punch. Good job.

Action and 3D: Action choreography is really good and I'm impressed. Recently I'm seeing the realistic fighting in hindi movies. It feels you are fighting with a worthy opponent. Proper chops and punches, blood if necessary...a few kool finisher moves.
If you are still not sure if you should watch this, go for action only, you won't be disappointed.
3D is bad...like baaaad

Songs and background score: All but one are used as background score. So no more annoying song-dance sequence in the movie to bore you. Not very remarkable job from Shankar-Ehsan-Loy trio. A few forgettable hummable tunes thats all.

Editing: Should have edited few parts with Roma. Keep only scenes which impacts movie and should have edited last emo scene with Roma in bank vault. And obviously Arjun's scenes.

Few additional words: The moment the movie released it started a buzz. Lame movie, copy of this and that, nothing new and obviously SRK sucks. Well, I would like to say something on these.
The movie is not lame. There are more bank robbery movies with more lolable concepts. At least this was better. Not much challanges in terms of bank vault breaking but good approach and scene structure.
Copy of MI and Oceans...come on guys, I understand if you have seen only one movie on the bank robbery theme and only MI for jump scenes. Someone jumped from a highrise...that is not a MI copy. That is someone jumped from a highrise. And all robbery (not only bank safes but all kind of safes) movies had their own set of hurdles before you reach the main vault/safe/box/etc without proper authentication. What is the hype and hoopla if the challanges matches with one or few movies. Stop being a movie-know-it-all and stop boasting I-see-hollywood-movies-I've-seen-it-all-and-I'm-not-impressed.
Nothing new...none promised you anything new. Its a movie. Enjoy it the way you have enjoyed Singham, Dabaang, Bodyguard etc craps. And from the day Don2 was announced to be in production...I guess none in the world expected an intelligent brainfcuk movie. So...shut-up.
SRK sucks...if you are a SRK hater. He always sucks for you. If you are a neutral guy...you might tend to appreciate his acting this time. Overacting?...Not this time at least. And if you are a fan, he's beyond the petty matters like perfection, overacting etc

Verdict: One time watch for sure. The movie takes time to build up the plot and slow a pace but after intermission its a joyride for action lovers.
 

rhitwick

Democracy is a myth
Sherlock Holmes:A Game of Shadows 6.5/10

First part was more intriguing and had a good story. I'm still not comfortable with the idea that someone had to perfect what Sir Conan Doyle wrote.

A bit touch of Holmes's original story and bring in the main twists and turns and you get modern day Holmes saga set in old London.

And I still can not accept such short height of Holmes!

Well, lets talk about what you got here.

Acting: Well, none questions this part. But Holmes is a bit more witty and too talkative which I noticed.

Direction: I missed a soul in the story and presentation. Even last scene failed to provoke any shock or emotion.

Cinematography: Good.

Special effects: Good and too much. It was supposed to be a detective story not a remake of "Saving Private Ryan" :O

Verdict: Watch it for a new representation of Holmes and some witty humor.
 

rhitwick

Democracy is a myth
Kahaani 8.2/10

The day its poster first appeared in newspaper I disliked it. A pregnant woman in backdrop of goddess Durga...resembles a heavy film on values, ethics, emotions etc... first impression.....not my kinda movie.

Then I saw the trailer. I liked the idea. There are movies on similar idea so wanted to know how this movie is treated but the real reason of watching this was 'Kolkata'; I'm a bengali and I just had to see how the director (Sujoy Ghosh) captured and presented Kolkata to global audience.
I just had to know because for a long time bengal and bengali were type-casted in 'Dhoti', 'Specs' and 'oil soaked hair'. And who likes getting type-casted?!

Story/Concept/Theme: So Bidya Bagchi arrives to Kolkata from London to search her husband who seems to be missing. She visits local police station, his uncle's home, his school and all possible places. But Arnab (Vidya's husband) appears to be vanished into thin air. None knows about him, none has ever seen him! Rest is to be seen.
A very promising theme, at times reminded me of Hitchcock's "North by Northwest".

Character development: There are total four characters who are given considerable time that you could recall their faces when they reappear. But, its only Vidya Balan's character which goes through various turmoil and transformations and her character is only one where "Character development" phrase can be applied.
Next comes Parambrata Chatterjee as the police inspector (Rana). I would like to confess, I liked his acting better than Vidya's (don't judge me...not being biased here)
Then a brilliant performance by Nawazuddin Siddiqui as IB officer. His character is well developed.
And, Kharaj Mukherjee as Parambrata's senior officer gives few comic relief and lite moments for the movie.
(Second viewing update) Saswata as 'Bob Biswas' the contract killer. AWESOME!

Direction: Sujoy Ghosh kept the movie as it should be i.e. an end to end thriller. He did not fall for giving it some patriotic angle, some insane backstory. Kept things simple and eye to details. And choosing the backdrop of the story as Kolkata. If it were not Kolkata I don't know where you could get lost so easily; the chaos, the places add extra point to story. A dusty almirah in a hotel seems possible here. The movie length is also of 2hrs only. Apart from a few unnecessary scenes (few seconds at max) the direction seems perfect. Looking forward his other projects.

Screenplay: The screenplay is confusing enough to keep you busy remembering all the names of the characters you see in the movie. If you lost focus once you might just end up searching for answers. Dialogs are precise but void of swearing! This is not how bengalee speak, specially when men in uniform are talking among themselves! We curse but I could not hear a bit of faint cuss word in background.
The pace of the story is also crisp only after interval its a bit slow. And you would only notice if you want to point out some fault in the movie.

Acting: Vidya Balan is great as usual. But I don't think she's the man of the movie. Its a too easy role for her. Only challenge might be acting as a pregnant woman when you are not. I can't give the movie's full credit to her. No, I can't.
I would rather say Parambrata did a very good job as 'Rana' the friendly police officer. Certain subtle gestures, his body language were superb. A simpleton newly joined police inspector full of values and slowly discovering how the system works.
And obvious next mention is Nawazuddin Siddiqui as IB officer. His body language only shows how a person in position can abuse his power. He's so thin people could just slap him once he would fall flat but he uses his post to overpower people. Thus, may be he's portrayed as so aggressive.
(Second viewing update) Saswata as 'Bob Biswas' was brilliant. Every moment he was on screen he terrified people. I can remember when he appeared second time on screen, an aunty in my back row gasped and whispered to her husband "fir kise marnewala hai". He's a gem of the movie. Shame on me I forgot to mention him first time.

Cinematography: Absolutely brilliant! It had to be kolkata and that too this way only. Dirty, organized, friendly, rugged, fast and slow all at a same time. The movie was not about to promote Kolkata tourism so no extra shots on its beauty or prized possessions. To bring the essence of a vibrant and live city Sujoy had to capture kolkata this way.

Songs and background score: Starting song by Usha Uthup is good apart from that we get another one sung by Amitabh Bachhan which I found misplaced and unnecessary. Rest are alright.
(Second viewing update) This time listened to background score and I would say they are apt and precise and nowhere overshadowing the dialogs. Good job Vishal-Shekhar.

Editing: Impressive job with editing. Very few unnecessary scenes that too would get noticed if you were looking for faults.

Few words: The moment the movie started I was blown away. Slow but steady things stared falling into places (or out of place). You start to get pieces of the puzzle one by one. At times my intelligent friends here could have guessed the end but when the end comes near I can assure you all would be confused (This is how Agatha Christie did in all his novels). The end is a bit cliched though 8)

Verdict: A brilliant thriller after a long time (only comparable is 'Baishe Srabon' a bengali movie) and a must watch for sure. 2 hours of your life well spent. Go for it.
 
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