Bengali Movie Chaar 2014 (Bengali Flim Review)

Chaar

Cast :- Paran Bandyopadhyay, Saswata Chattopadhyay

          Sreelekha Mitra, Subhrajit Dutta

          Abir Chatterjee, Koel Mallick, Pijush Ganguly, 

          Sudipta Chakraborty, Rajatava Dutta

Director :- Sandip Ray

Presenter :- Srikant Mohta, Nishpal Singh

Music Director :- Sandip Ray

Story :- Parosuram (Raj Shekhar Bose), Saradindu Bandyopadhyay, Satyajit Ray

Screenplay :- Sandip Ray

Dialogue :- Sandip Ray

Cinematographer :- Shirsha Roy

Editor :- Subrata Roy

Art Director :- Manik Bhattacharya

Sound Designer :- Anup Mukhopadhyay

Four stories. Three writers. One on screen writer/ director. Sandip Ray's Chaar befits this description with glory and successfully represents four stories on screen clubbed tighter as a singular narrative. Stories have not been picked with a particular motive but are heart warming and define relationships distinctly by expressing different human emotions. The one hour forty five minutes of narrative is broken down into four parts. Part one Bateshwarer Abadan by Parashuram is the story of a writer who is forced to alter his tragic narrative. Part two Dui Bandhu (Two Friends) by Satyajit Ray explores the realms of friendship and therefore the various said and unsaid bond between the two. Part three Kaktaruya (Scarecrow) by Satyajit Ray explores realms of subconscious memory, imagination and unrequited attachment. The last part Parikkha (Exam) by Saradindu Bandopadhyay takes us back to the British Bengal and warms our heart through an innocent tale of love and trust.

Expression of emotions in each tale is weaved with simplicity and virtue. Music heightens the tempo and gels the narrative quite well. Ray's selection of actors is equally powerful and perfect. From Paran Bandhopadhyay to Saswata Chatterjee to Sreelekha Mitra, Rajatava, Sudipta and Swaralipi, Piyush to Abir and Koel everyone works their character too well and somehow create such an impact that at one point you would feel Chaar wouldn't have been possible without them playing their roles.

To summarize, simplicity, purity, heart warming are the few words that you will easily encounter after watching Sandip Ray's Chaar (Four). Satisfaction is just a low tribute for a film like Chaar. Watch Chaar to experience the entertainment of reading stories on screen.

Bengali Movie Game 2014 (Bengali Flim Review)

Game

Cast : Jeet, Subhasree Gangopadhyay

Director  : Baba Yadav

Music : Director Jeet Ganguly

Story  : A. R. Murugadoss

Screenplay  : N. K. Salil

Dialogue  : N. K. Salil

Cinematographer  : P. Selvakumar

Editor  : Mohammad Kalam

Action Director  : Rocky Rajesh

Playback Singer  : Nakash Aziz, Akriti Kakkar

 Army captain Abhimanyu (Jeet) comes home on vacation, only to unravel a terrorist plot to carry out serial blasts in Kolkata. He goes on to outwit and exterminate the terrorists involved.

Give us a believable plot and we're game. And that's what Game is — believable, though your belief gets a bit stretched at times. But what else can you expect from a commercial masala flick? It has the right dose of romance, comedy, action and incredulity to make it big at the box office. The script is crisp, thanks to its Tamil film industry origins, and the pace is engaging.

But — pardon my nagging curiosity — we would surely love to know the source of all the weapons in circulation in the flick. And, of course, the way they seem to materialize out of thin air! You may be in the army, may be a hot shot intelligence officer, but even the mai baap of them all, James Bond, is helpless without Q! So, Abhimanyu providing 12 bags with loaded handguns to his army-mates right after a black-tie wedding is a bit...ahem! How do we put it? Far-fetched? Guess that's the word.

But don't judge this book by a few of its pages. It's a good package — light in parts, nail-biting in others. Jeet looks every bit the shrewd army intelligence officer, Subhasree is all smiles as his pretty fiance, Sudipta Ballav shines as the tense cop and Abhimanyu's harassed friend while Saurav Chakraborty adds a Bollywood touch to his character of a merciless terrorist mastermind. And as we mentioned earlier, the storyline is engaging and racy. Director Baba Yadav deserves quite a few pats on the back for that.

As for the technical departments, well, P Shelva Kumar has done a commendable job as the cinematographer, especially during the adrenaline-pumping chase sequences. But the special effects leave one pining for some more realism. The blast scenes — in a bus and then a ferry — are too old-school in this time and age. The days of superimposing fire on an object to depict a bomb explosion are long gone.

The music is mediocre at best, though the song sequences are not ill-timed. But it's always kind of jarring when the lead pair suddenly starts dancing or riding superbikes in Dubai right after sharing romantic looks in some locality in, say, south Kolkata! That always gets my goat. Don't know about the rest of you. But trust me, Game is an intelligent movie, with a lot of firepower and mindless fun. It's the kind of movie that doesn't, for a minute, make you regret why you bought that ticket. So, go, have fun. The game is on.

Hindi movie Filmistaan 2014 (Hindi Flim Review)

Filmistaan

Cast: Sharib Hashmi, Innamulhaq, Kumud Mishra.

Direction: Nitin Kakkar

Side effects of piracy in the business of movies cannot be argued. However the large scale piracy of Bollywood movies in Pakistan has also affirmed one extremely important and often disregarded factor - the love for the stories, and the stars. Divided by the partition, the countries after all have shared the same ethos for centuries!

And while cricket manages to get both the sides competing, films and the love for the stars invariably get both India and Pakistan on the same side. The fact that Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan have as big a fan base in Pakistan is no secret. And neither is the popularity of Madhuri Dixit across the border, as the hilarious joke made popular by JP Dutta's LOC Kargil indicated. Probably this is where writer-director Nitin Kakkar finds his inspiration for Filmistaan.

Filmistaan is the story of a wannabe actor Sunny Arora (Sharib Hashmi). He lives movies and want to be seen on the silver screen some day. He goes for auditions but never makes it. He is one of those who could probably mimic every other actor but has no style of his own. As he struggles, his friend makes him believe that assisting a director might just help. After all, that's how Hrithik, Ranbir and so many others have made it! During the shoots of a documentary near the Indo-Pak border in Rajashtan Sunny is mistaken to be an American by a group of extremists and abducted hoping to negotiate terms with the US government. As he wakes up Sunny realizes that his in Pakistan now and there is no way to escape.

It could have been a drama from here. But the director opts for an unusual and refreshing comedy! The fun never dies, keeping the laughter going till the very end. Yet again a dangerous proposition, as on countless instances directors have lost out on the screenplay to keep the humour alive. Providing Nitin absolute support is Sharib Hashmi, with not just his performance but the dialogues that he has written. Sharib along with co-actor Inaamulhaq (plays Pakistani villager Aftaab) breathe life into each scene, wowing the audience.

The two represent the masses of each country, who could blend in without traces had it not been for the border. The food is the same, so are the hopes. And source of entertainment as well! They bond over movies and build trust in each other. A scene where Sunny confesses to Aftaab about his hopeless big screen dreams touches. Friendship knows no boundaries.

Also commendable are cinematography and music. Both play up the emotions beautifully.

Comedy is serious business. Even more so when it is the route taken to drive home a significant message, which is anything but funny. And it is always easier to lose way than leave a mark. Of course Filmistaan could have been better had the writer not left some strings untied and not fallen for a couple of moments of commercialization. Nevertheless Filmistaan is a remarkable job.

Finally making it to the release two years after it received the National Award for Best Film in Hindi, Filmistaan is also a step ahead for the film industry. Of course it would have of been better had it managed to make it to the theaters in time to celebrate the centenary celebrations of Indian cinema. But it's never too late for the good! Jai cine-maa ki! Filmistaan is a movie recommended for one and all !

Holiday Review 2014 (Hindi Flim Review)

Holiday

Director: A.R. Murugadoss

Writer: A.R. Murugadoss

Stars: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Govinda

Music : Pritam Chakraborty

The last scene before the interval of Holiday A Soldier is Never Off Duty shows a tele-conversation between the hero (Akshay Kumar) and the villain (Farhad). The villain threatens to kill the hero as soon as they meet. The hero, stylishly tilting his head to his right, says, "I am waiting." I could have clapped and whistled for the way it was done. But then, I had already seen the exact same scene in the original Thuppaki. Except that the hero in the Tamil film, Vijay, tilts his head toward the left.

Remakes have often drawn complains about lack of original content. I am not averse to them. But it certainly is only worthy if the filmmaker decides to bring in some novelty. Why remake a film else?
HASINOD could pass off if it was shot alongside Thuppakki, like Mani Ratnam's Raavan where both Tamil and Hindi version were shot simultaneously. Except this one comes two years too late. Hence all it becomes is a film which has been reshot with a few different actors in the same locations. So we have exactly the same shots, same dialogues - merely translated into Hindi and in some cases even the same actors!

In an age where content is so easily available, could I not watch a Hindi dubbed Thuppakki?

Do not get me wrong. As a standalone effort HASINOD is not a bad film. It does have its drawbacks, but as a remake of a super-hit Thuppakki, it stands on firm ground when it comes to the story. This is the story of an army guy who is on a vacation. But situations demand that he gets to work even when not in his uniform, as he finds a group of terrorists trying to create havoc in Mumbai city. And while he systematically takes them out there are also a fair number of lighter moments which keep the audience entertained.

The screenplay is cleverly drafted keeping the thrill going with regular doses of laughter and romance. The first half does stretch by quite a bit. It almost runs to one and half hours for a film which is 160 minutes long. The second half moves swift with loads of action. The scene where Akshay leads the team of 12 army-men to finish of as many members of a sleeper cell who are on their way to plant bombs across Mumbai is high adrenalin stuff. Also the climax builds a lot of anticipation and is executed well. The director could have polished off the last five minutes, which suddenly makes the film appear stretched. The entire tribute to army could have easily fit into the end-credits.

There are a couple things changed for the better in this remake. For one, they have removed two scenes that have reduced the length by ten minutes. And of course, a bigger Sonakshi Sinha playing a boxer is far believable than a delicate Kajal Agarwal playing one.

Talking about casting, Akshay does look good and performs in his limitations - considering he is guided by what Vijay had done in the Thuppakki. But you got to give it to the actor for looking as fit at almost 47! Farhad (earlier known as Freddy Daruwala) is good, but in comparison to Vudyuth Jamwal is not quite as menacing. Especially towards the climax when he needs to look dangerous and almost capable of getting the better of the Akshay. Sumeet Raghavan, playing the hero's bestie, will make you smile with his comic timing.

The technical aspects of the film are as good as the Tamil version. Director AR Murugadoss would not have it any other way. The songs do not match up to the film. For once Pritam seems to have come up with a score that does not impress.

The bottom-line is if you have watched Thuppakki you might not find this remake anything to be excited about. But if you have not, Holiday A Soldier is Never Off Duty is a fair watch. Like I mentioned in the first paragraph, there are at least a couple of scenes which will leave you pleased.

Kochadaiiyaan Review 2014 (Hindi Flim Review)

Kochadaiiyaan

 Cast: Rajinikanth, Deepika Padukone, Aadi, Sarath Kumar, 

            Jackie Shroff, Nasser, Shobhana, Rukmini Vijayakumar
Director: Soundarya Ashwin Rajinikanth
Producer: Sunil Lulla, Sunanda Murli Manohar, Prashita Chaudhary
Music: A. R. Rahman
Cinematography: Rajiv Menon
Editing: Anthony
Art Direction: Vadivel Chinnakgoundar, Chinnakgoundar Velu
Screenplay: K S Ravikumar
Dialogue: K S Ravikumar
Story/Writer: K S Ravikumar
Action Direction: Peter Hein
Choreography: Saroj Khan, Chinni Prakash, Raju Sundaram
Costume Design: Neeta Lulla

For the layman, who buys a ticket to entertain himself for those 2 hours, the term 'photo-realistic performance capture' may come across as Greek and Latin. Unfortunately, in India, animation films have not got the due yet.

The technology used by Rajinikanth's daughter Soundarya, who helms KOCHADAIIYAAN, captures the facial expressions of the actors and attaches it to the virtual image created for the project in question [that's explained at the very commencement of the film -- a good move, in my opinion], something which James Cameron used in the path-breaking AVATAR. Of course, there's no comparing KOCHADAIIYAAN and AVATAR, since the time taken for the Hollywood project -- including the budget allocated to that film -- is beyond imagination for an Indian film-maker.

KOCHADAIIYAAN is a big leap as far as technology is considered. The question is, will KOCHADAIIYAAN change the perception of what the common man thinks of animation films in India, that it's a film for kids of all ages, from 8 to 80? Besides, will KOCHADAIIYAAN emerge as an alternate medium to woo the spectators to theatres? Most importantly, will it give a fillip to the non-existent animation film market in India?

Soundarya makes a fervent attempt to bring the technology to our shores and travel the road never travelled by any Indian film-maker thus far, but the fact of the matter is, KOCHADAIIYAAN is saddled with the usual good versus bad saga [the son of an honest senapati seeks revenge for the wrongs done to his father]. Having said that, I wish to add that the screenplay is truly absorbing for most parts, except when the songs show up. I'd like to make a special mention of the writing in the post-interval portions, when Rajinikanth narrates the reason for attacking Deepika's father [Nasser]. The entire flashback portions keep you hooked.

While it takes time to get the grasp of the technology initially, it becomes smooth sailing subsequently, mainly because the storytelling takes precedence after Soundarya introduces you to the characters. Besides, you ought to give credit to Soundarya for conceptualising and executing the project and presenting her superstar-father Rajinikath in three novel avatars [the third avatar emerges in the last sequence -- is there a sequel in the offing?]. The fact that she decided to choose an alternate medium of cinema to narrate the story gets her our mandate. Also, this one's in 3D, which only enhances the impact.

Since a film like KOCHADAIIYAAN depends heavily on post-production [I believe, a massive team in India, China, U.K. and U.S.A. has worked on it], the outcome ranges from average to good to excellent. It could've been consistent, but, let's face it, this is just the beginning.

The film, a mass entertainer to please the legion of fans of Rajinikanth, portrays the superstar in a role that does justice to his image -- a man of extraordinary abilities. And I must add, no other actor could've portrayed the archetypal superhero with such brilliance. Soundarya deserves kudos for making sure she delivers what one has come to expect from a Rajinikanth film. Additionally, right from the costumes to the armour to the overall look of the superstar, KOCHADAIIYAAN decorates the superstar luminously.

Although Deepika's character is the mandatory leading lady, she does get a couple of sequences to leave an impact. Among the supporting cast, the ones who stand out include Nasser and Jackie Shroff. Nasser especially has the meatiest part after Rajinikanth, while Jackie is competent.

KOCHADAIIYAAN also boasts of several talented names such as Shobana and Sarath Kumar. Both of them leave an impression in brief roles. Aadhi does well. Amitabh Bachchan's baritone voice at the start gives the film the right momentum. The soundtrack by maestro A.R. Rahman is seeped in originality, but the non-popularity of songs go against them. Having said that, the powerful background score compliment the visuals on screen.

On the whole, the absorbing screenplay and the technology makes KOCHADAIIYAAN an interesting fare. For the legion of Rajinikanth fans, this film is definitely worth a watch. Recommended !

Heropanti Flim Review 2014 (Hindi Flim Review)

Heropanti

Director: Sabir Khan

Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala

Music Director: Wajid Ali, Sajid Ali

Lyricst: Kausar Munir, Raftaar
Cast: Tiger Shroff, Kriti Sanon, Sandeepa Dhar, Vikram Singh
Background Music: Sandip Shirodkar

Every time a star kid is launched there is a whole lot of expectation that is built. But much before the anticipation, a script is woven to showcase every possible salable quality of the debutant. Or in this case, a script was borrowed from a superhit Telugu film. Quite obviously it has all the elements of entertainment to ensure the best packaging of the star-to-be. Heropanti is clearly about Tiger Shroff - his style, his dance and most importantly his action.

Expectations are raised outright. Will he score? Is he the next big star? Eyes try to scan every minute expression, every possible movement that Tiger makes - judgmentally. And it is not difficult to find that he has a long way to go. Tiger needs to work on his histrionic abilities, his voice modulation and a lot more. Evidently he has worked much harder on his footwork than his expressions - so you see him fight like a superhero and dancing like magic.

Faults detected, now back to the film. Heropanti is a about Babloo and his charisma. He is a winner. He has helped his friends elope. And now the girls family - quite a rowdy one at that - has him along with some friends hostage till they find their eloped daughter. Babloo could beat 50 of those men at one go and escape; he is an 'army' as one of his friends remark. However he catches a glimpse of his love in the same village and decides he would hang on just to be around her, much to the dismay of his friends who are kept hostage. The girl turns out to be the second daughter of the same family. The story refuses to move for entire first half before finally giving some dimension to the characters.

Director Sabbir Khan in his second attempt, after a painfully bad Kambakkth Ishq, tries working on many of the things he got wrong the last time. However he leaves a much to be desired with absolute predictable writing. So unsurprising that you could start betting on the next scene, or dialogue, and you might actually win it! The film however is shot well. The background score works better than the songs.

Heropanti could have been humdrum had it not been for some extraordinary work in the second half by Prakash Raj, who plays the lead girl's father. This one scene between Prakash Raj and Tiger, as the father talks about the love for his daughter and his grief at her decision to elope, connects. Suddenly emotions are added to a film which felt too shallow till then. A father's justification to his expectations brings around a change in viewpoint. The penultimate scene works better, though it reminded me of Dilwale Dulhaniya Leh Jayenge. Also an attempt at making a commentary on the honour killings in Haryana is not gone unnoticed - though way too over-the-top.

Bringing in some freshness is Kirti Sanon. The actress, also a debutant, is clearly someone to be looked forward to. She not only looks gorgeous but is equipped to perform.

Heropanti has its drawbacks but manages to hold the audience in the second half. And more importantly, it does spring two talents to look out for. Tiger, with his innocent looks, should work well with the girls while he could be a valid action star. He may not have his father's voice but he has his style for sure. It would be up to him to make the right moves from here.

Baari Tar Bangla Review 2014 (Bengali Flim Review)

Baari Tar Bangla

Cast: Raima Sen, Saswata Chatterjee, Sumit Samaddar,

          Tulika Basu, Shantilal Mukherjee
Director: Rangan Chakraborty
Music: Debajyoti Misra
Story/Writer: Rangan Chakraborty

Rangan Chakravarty's Baari Tar Bangla is the story of a middle aged man caught within the traps of a language. The language that once formed a connection between him and his mother suddenly begins to tease him and he forgets to think in his very own 'Bengali'. Roopchand (Saswata Chatterjee) realizes that his grasp over bangla has slowly started fading out and he is unable to write anymore. A trip to the psychiatrist Abanti (Raima Sen) and the treatment procedure becomes our window into the life of 40 year old Roopchand.

Roopchand begins to narrate his life and slowly unfolds the journey of a language. An unconventional narrative is what Chakravarty shapes up with Baari Tar Bangla. Chakravarty pays tribute to Sukumar Ray and Rabindranath Tagore, through his lyrics and dialogues. It is the societal satire that forms the backbone of the film and is bound to tickle you with humor and wit. No one could have been a better Roopchand apart from Saswata and without any inhibitions, he carries on the role with grace.

Songs in Baari Tar Bangla are exceptionally are meaningful and delves out the hardest truth of the society in the easiest of way, with a hint of mockery in 'bangla'. Even though many would imply enjoy the carefree nature of the film, but there is a lot of relatable contexts and sub contexts for many in Baari Tar Bangla.

Baari Tar Bangla is not just a film, but an on screen reading. Satire is just a small word in front of the strong discourse set out by the powerful 1 hr 46 mns. A must one time watch, the film will definitely pull the Bengalis at heart to the theaters a few more times.