Plot;
Seen through the eyes of a police officer, Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai traces the changing face of the Mumbai underworld.

The film, set primarily in 1970-Mumbai, follows the rise of Sultan (Ajay Devgan), and his eventual fall, when his protégé Shoaib (Emraan Hashmi), challenges his supremacy, and usurps power to rule the murky underbelly of Mumbai. IMDB describes the film as, “A tale of two gangsters from the eras of past and present, whose lives enter parallel paths as they struggle to survive within Mumbai’s criminal underworld”

Sultan Mirza (Ajay Devgan) is the godfather like figure to the people. He is basically a smuggler. He has his own principles like he never smuggle drugs etc. He does the wrong things in the right way. He is benevolent to the people. His love interest is a film actress, Rehana (Kangana Ranaut).

All lies good for him until he meets Shoaib Khan (Emraan Hashmi). Shoaib is an angry man who is ambitious for power. He wants to be the ‘Don’ ruling Mumbai under his feet. His love interest is his childhood girlfriend, Mumtaz (Prachi Desai). He joins Sultan’s gang and eventually steals the power from Sultan, when he leaves for a personal factor to Delhi.

Director: Priyadarshan

Review;

Satire is a genre rarely touched by Bollywood mainstream filmmakers, so when a big star like Akshay Kumar decides to co-produce one with a director like Priyadarshan with whom he has never delivered a flop, naturally expectations run high. But what one gets at the end of the day is a migraine inducer. Remake of Malayalam film Vellanakalude Nadu (1988) starring Mohanlal, Khatta Meetha neither entertains nor offers anything new.

Sachin Tichkule (Akshay) is a road contractor who is forever cash strapped and in a mess after he attempts to go corrupt. His extended family consisting of a brother (Paritosh) and two brothers-in-law (Milind Gunaji and Manoj Joshi) all staying together under one roof are neck deep in corruption where PWD contracts are involved. Sachin is often ridiculed by them for being a blot to their family since he is not able to contribute anything to the family but only creating more problems paining his retired judge father (Kulbhushan Kharbanda). Problems multiply for Sachin as his ex-flame Gehna Ganpule (Trisha) comes as the new Muncipal Commissioner.

First things first, if you are expecting Khatta Meetha to be a rip roaring comic affair, then let us warn you, the only genuinely comic moments of the film are all what you see in the promos. The entire film is a messed up affair with a non-existent plot joined together with some truly inane sequences. In fact, the setting also reminds one of Priyadarshan’s assistant Rajeev Kumar directed flop comedy Chal Chala Chal starring Govinda. Making it worse is the long running time of over 2 hours and 40 minutes. Priyadarshan tries to pack in too many things and fails on all accounts. He stretches his comic sequences very long, resulting in spoiling a good joke. The bridge and road contractors – Muncipal body officials and politicians nexus shown doesn’t really expose anything new and the contrived manner in which it all culminates makes you pull out your hair in irritation. What works to some extent is the authentic small town setting and a few one liners.

Akshay Kumar is the only good thing about this chaotic enterprise. Be it sarcastic humour or performing the most implausible comic sequences he performs them all with full conviction. Trisha (in a dubbed voice) makes an average debut but the blame goes to makers for casting her in a role of a Muncipal Commissioner. She appears too young for it. Urvashi Sharma is good. Aruna Irani playing Akki’s mom is wasted. Kulbhushan Kharbanda has his good moments. Usual suspects of any Priyadarshan film – Manoj Joshi, Asrani, Rajpal Yadav with addition of Johhny Lever continue to assault your senses with their high decibel dialogue delivery in the name of comedy.

Pritam delivers with a few good songs but with each song badly placed, half their fun is lost. Camerawork by V. Manikandan is good capturing the interiors of Maharashtra well.

Director: Rahul Dholakia

Review;

While the burning issue of Kashmir has been handled before on the Indian screen rarely any effort has been such well researched, carrying such depth and effectively narrated with technical finesse as Rahul Dholakia (Parzania) directed Lamhaa. Taking you straight into ‘the world’s most dangerous place’, Dholakia offers a very disturbing piece that brings out many emotions out of you.

The film opens with Indian Military Intelligence suspecting a plot to disrupt and paralyze Kashmir and an attempt to do a successful repeat of what was a failed attempt in 1989. That’s breaking of the state of Kashmir away from India, hand in glove with Pakistan. A retired paramilitary commando Vikram (Sanjay Dutt) is sent to investigate and avert it. In Kashmir, he goes undercover posing as press photographer Gul Jehangir. Haji (Kher) an influential separatist leader has had 17 attempts on his life so far in the last 18 years and Vikram through his sources concludes that last attempt on his life was an insider’s job. He succeeds in gaining the trust of Haji’s protégé Aziza (Bipasha) and convinces her that there is another attack planned on his life. Atif (Kunal Kapoor) a former militant and love interest of Aziza who has had a fall out with Haji hopes to bring peace to the valley by participating in the upcoming state elections. But then as Vikram digs further he realizes the mess has only got deeper. Nothing is actually what it seems and there is hardly any one who can be trusted.

Dholakia and his co-writer Raghav Dhar successfully put before the viewers the fact that Kashmir is being run like ‘Company’ where everyone (RAW, ISI, Indian and Pakistani Military and political leaders from both sides) are all its mutually benefiting shareholders. Also, how everyone is keeping the issue burning forever so they all can benefit more from it. Hardly giving any space to breath, Dholakia’s treatment of the film is very international with quick cuts and hand held camera moment giving many a time a feel of guerilla shoot. He doesn’t waste time in establishing a scene but gets straight to the point with minimal dialogue exchanges, expecting the viewer to apply his brains and be an active participant. He also brings superb authenticity to the proceedings by means of setting, locations and jargon. Despite the fact that the big conspiracy at the climax doesn’t come across as effectively as it should have, the culmination of the principal characters appears apt.

Dutt in an unrecognizable look is in top form and goes beyond the character. Check out his body language on his arrival to meet anyone, he always looks around trying to feel convinced he is not on ‘target’. Bipasha Basu is an unusual choice for a Kashmiri girl but puts up a convincing act. Kunal Kapoor does his job earnestly but fails to maintain consistency in his diction. Anupam Kher not only looks the part but goes on with it with tremendous conviction. It is a hard act for any Kashmiri Pandit but Kher proves why he is the best in the business when it comes to strong character roles. Cameos by Denzil Smith as the Army officer, Yashpal Sharma as the ISI agent masquerading as a businessman and Mahesh Manjrekar as Dutt’s trusted old source are good. Murli Sharma, Jyoti Dogra and Shernaz Patel are effective as well. Another aces are Mithoon’s soul stirring tunes and James Fowlds remarkable camerawork.

If you are going in expecting solutions offered to the burning issue of Kashmir then you will be in for a major disappointment as Dholakia avoids it. Taking a no nonsense approach, he also doesn’t fall shy of making the Indian government reflect its role in Kashmir especially since 1989. Lamhaa is a non-jingoistic and honest attempt that definitely deserves a watch.

Written & Directed by Abhishek Sharma

Review;

A small-time Pakistani reporter dreams of a bite from Big Apple. So what does he do? He sends George Bush a tape with an Osama lookalike threatening mayhem in the US.

Tere Bin Laden is one of those wacked-out satires that sounds far funnier in theory than it finally is on screen. For no fault of the lead actor, one might add. Ali Zafar’s comic timing could put some of our desi Khans to shame. Ali is a young actor with considerable screen presence. What’s more he seems to secrete a sharp sense of enjoyement when confronted by the outrageous which he projects outwards with a missile-like aim that sometimes misses its target.

This is a high-wit low-budget comedy , and it shows. The gags and one-liners involving the preparation to put the fake Osama in the line of fire are pungent parody in principle. But the the films meager budget muffles the mirth. Finally it’s all about placing cameras in front of world maps rather than going out there to capture those parts of the world that the satire takes into its tongue-in-cheek sweep.

There are some stinging swipes taken at the Americanization of the Asian dream, and the craze for young urbanites in this part of the world to make good their escape at any cost. Debutant director Abhishek Sharma never loses hold of the satirical mould. The sense of fun is uppermost in the script, though quite frequently the humour gets derailed by studio-induced props worthy more of a television sitcom on burger-mania rather than a film whose satirical take on terrorism touches the nerve-centres of our very existence.

That Sharma is actually able to pull off a parody that combines poultry jokes with globally-significant coments , is no small achievement.Luckily the humour eschews vulgarity except for one inter-lewd where a man in a burqa tells another guy, “I may be in a Burqa but otherwise I have the same things that you do.”

Ahem ahem. Happily the same is not valid for the satire. Under the outer skin it is different from what we see as satire.

The actors are in the mood for some serious fun here. While Ali Zafar sparkles in the embrace of the script’s feisty wit, Pradhuman Singh as an Osama lookalike too seems to have fun biting the bait.His scenes with a beautician (Sugandha Garg) who touches up his face are deliciously suggestive.

Director:  Satish Kaushik

Review;
Milenge Milenge is a poor rehash of John Cussack – Kate Beckinsale starrer romantic comedy Serendipity (2001) that was about destiny bringing two lovers back together. But perhaps makers Boney Kapoor and Satish Kaushik were not as lucky to quickly encash on its success as their copy took a good seven years to come on screen. In the meanwhile a small film starring TV actor Sarwar Ahuja and veteran actress Tabassum’s granddaughter Khushi titled Hum Phirr Milein Na Milein released and flopped last year carrying the same plotline.

Milenge Milenge narrates the tale of Priya (Kareena) and Immy (Shahid) who meet each other in Bangkok and fall in love. However when Priya (Kareena) gets to know that Immy (Shahid) used her diary to know what she liked so that he could impress her, she dumps him. Immy manages to convince her to give him one more chance. And Priya writes her name in a book and Immy’s name in a Rs. 50 note and gave it away to different people, adding that if they ever get back those two items it would mean destiny wants them to be together.

Milenge Milenge is not only badly written and looks like an amateurish attempt but is completely dated in its approach by Satish Kaushik. The way Kareena’s character is established in the opening credits is quite passé and the subsequent series of events completely bore you. The film is full of stereotyped characters and monotonous dialogues which would have not worked even back in 2005 had it been released then. Himesh Reshammiya’s music also does not click. The film is shot and edited very inconsistently as well.

If one expects at least the acting to be a good thing about the film then there is disappointment in this department too. Shahid carries a huge Shah Rukh Khan hangover and irritates while Kareena is just about passable. Aarti Chabbria hardly gets any scope. Rest all are plain average.

The film falls completely short on any expectations that you may have. Watch it only if you have the curiosity of checking out Shahid and Kareena together for probably the last time. Otherwise please stay miles away from Milenge Milenge.

Director:   Anant Narayan Mahadevan

Review,
With a hard hitting realistic film Red Alert – The War Within actor turned filmmaker Anant Narayan Mahedevan has finally found his calling after directing a good number of average movies distinctively belonging to a diverse genre. The film based on a true story manages to strike a chord with the manner Mahadevan has narrated the subject without taking sides and has been ably supported by his ensemble cast.

The film narrates the tale of Narsimha (Suniel Shetty) a farm laborer, who desperately needed money to fund the education of his children. But he ends up finding himself in the midst of Naxalites where his mission becomes a mere subset of a greater cause that the militant’s pursue. From being a mere cook to actually training in weapons to being involved in shootouts and kidnapping, Narsimha himself in the thick of life he had never bargained for. A confrontation with the group leader (Ashish Vidyarthi) however turns his life upside down which leads him on the run from both law and the militants. But then comes a crucial time for Narsimha to take one vital decision that can either make or break him. But the decision ends in creating a conflicting situation that has him torn between conscience and survival.

The film’s situations are straight out of newspaper headlines and Mahadevan has handled the subject maturely. He has given a treatment to the film like a thriller rather than resorting to a boring documentary style. Much credit also goes to writer Aruna Raje. However, the climax could have been better. The happy ending though might please audience but in reality the situations portrayed in the climax appear a bit implausible.

The film’s another big strength however are the performances. Suniel Shetty has delivered his career-best act. Bhagyashree playing his wife is good. Sameera Reddy is almost unrecognizable in her non-glam act and is impressive. Ayesha Dharkar and Seema Biswas barely get any scope to justify their talent. Ashish Vidyarthi is very good. Gulshan Grover is fair. Amongst the veterans, Vinod Khanna in his short act and Naseer in his one scene role are super impressive. Zakir Hussain and Makarand Deshpande leave an impact too.

The camerawork by K. Rajkumar and action by Allan Amin could have been better.

Red Alert is a must watch for serious cinema lovers.

Cast;

Madhuri Dixit … Dia
Uttara Baokar … Dia’s Mother
Dalai … Radha
Felix D’Alviella … Steve
Divya Dutta … Najma
Jugal Hansraj … Sanjeev Mehra
Darshan Jariwala … Makarand
Kunal Kapoor … Imran Pathan
Irfan Khan … Farooque – Najma’s husband
Akshaye Khanna … MP Raja Saab
Akhilendra Mishra … Chaudhary Om Singh
Sushmita Mukherjee … Mrs. Chojar
Vinod Nagpal … Dia’s father
Nawazuddin … Dhan Kuber
Nowaz … Dhan Kuber
Vinay Pathak … Mr. Chojar
Asha Sachdev … Binduji
Konkona Sen Sharma … Anokhi
Yashpal Sharma … S.H.O. Singh
Ranvir Shorey … Mohan Sharma
Raghuvir Yadav … Doctor
Darshan Zariwala … Guru Makarand

Plot;

Dia (Madhuri Dixit) is a divorced mom living in New York and must go back to India after she receives news that her guru is on his death bed. When she arrives she finds he is gone and has left her the responsibility of saving and reviving the Ajanta Theater where she used to dance. The problem is that the political officers want it torn down and turned into a shopping mall. The storyline follows Dia and her challenge to stand up for what she believes in and fight the cause to the end, while trying to win back the love and support of the people of the town whom she walked out on ten years prior.

Plot;

After the passing away of his dark-skinned wife, from who they sired Uday (Nana Patekar), Dubai-based criminal don, Shankar Shetty re-married a fair-skinned woman, who gave birth to fair-skinned Sanjana (Katrina Kaif). After the couple’s passing, Uday takes over in his dad’s footsteps, and takes it upon himself to try and get Sanjana married – in vain, as no one wants to be associated with a crime family. Then Uday’s associate and brother, Sagar Pandey (Anil Kapoor), aspiring live-action painter, who had loved Iravati, got beat-up by her brothers, and was re-named Majnu, assists in finding a young man, Rajiv (Akshay Kumar), who lives with his maternal uncle, Dr. Ghunghroo (Paresh Rawal) and aunt, and through extortion compels Ghunghroo to accept this alliance. But Ghunghroo, at the very first opportunity, gets Rajiv to fall in love with another young woman in Sun City, South Africa. When the time comes to get Rajiv formally engaged to this woman, he finds out that Sanjana and she are the very same woman. With no escape from this predicament, the wedding is planned, invitations are sent out, and even Ranvir Dhanraj alias RDX (Feroz Khan), an Italian-based criminal don, also makes an appearance. On the day of the engagement, a woman named Ishika (Malika Sherawat) claiming to be Rajiv’s child-hood betrothed shows up, makes a successful plea to Ranvir, and gets the engagement annulled. When Dr. Ghunghroo finds out that Rajiv and Sanjana have fallen in love with each other, he decides to accept Sanjana into the family on the condition that Uday gives up on crime. Rajiv and Sanjana attempt to get Uday to take up acting in a Bollywood movie – with considerable success – so much so that Uday has no time for crime. That does not help so Rajiv and Sanjana think it would be better if Uday knows real Actors, so they get Suniel Shetty and Asrani to star in the movie, but when the Film Director talks rudely with Sunil Shetty, he quits the film and tells Asrani to quit to. After they leave the movie, Things get complicated when Ranvir’s son, Lucky, gets wind of Rajiv’s scheme and arrives in India with one mission – get Uday back on track with crime – and if necessary do away with Rajiv – once and for all.

Plot;

Don Muthu Swami is one of Bombay’s most fearsome gangsters. On his deathbed, his father forces him to make a promise: that from now on he will lead a decent life. From that moment onwards, the don has a new purpose in life: to become Sir Muthu Swami instead. On of his new goals is to become fluent in Urdu, for which purpose he hires the young Jaikishan as a teacher. Don Muthu Swami has a beautiful daughter, Sanjana, whom he wants to get married to Pradhan, the son of his close friend. However, the don’s right hand man, Preetam, asks for her hand as well. To impress Don Muthu Swami, he claims to be very rich by stealing millions from his employer. Sanjana herself, on the other hand, is desperate to get married to Jaikishan, and to scare off Pradhan, she fakes to be pregnant. The Don believe Preetam must be the culprit, but as it turns out, the girl Preetam loves is not Sanjana, but another girl who claims to be Don Muthu Swami’s daughter, Ranjana,

Circa 1970s Bombay’s criminal Don Muthu Swami promises his dying father, Ishwar, that he will go straight – not realizing that he is still under police surveillance, and his every moment is being watched. While he himself will face nothing but hilarious chaos as he and his goons attempt to fit into a honest lifestyle; deal with his rebellious daughter, Sanjana, who claims to have become pregnant by their chauffeur, Rehman; learn sophistication and Urdu from Jaikishan Shastri, who has an eye on Sanjana; his two-timing Accountant, Pritam Chopra, who has not only embezzled money but also wants to force him to wed his daughter; his wife, Lata, questions him about his fidelity – amidst even more chaos and confusion about a bag that mysteriously keeps on appearing and disappearing.

Aamir Khan as Sanjay Singhania, a rich business man; the chairman of a mobile phone company, Air Voice. He suffers from amnesia which makes him forget all the events that had happened 15 minutes ago.
Asin Thottumkal as Kalpana, a model by profession who gains publicity by proclaiming herself to be the girlfriend of Sanjay Singhania.
Jiah Khan as Sunita, a medical student, who is trying to study the case of Sanjay Singhania and his amnesiac problem.
Pradeep Rawat as Ghajini Dharmatma, a gang honcho and the mastermind of many illegal and criminal ventures.
Riyaz Khan as Inspector Arjun. a police inspector who is investigating the murders by Sanjay Singhania.

Plot;

The film opens with Sunita (Jiah khan), a medical student, and her friends working on a project about the human brain. She wants to investigate the curious case of Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan), a (former) notable city businessman, who is reported to have anterograde amnesia. Her professor denies access to Sanjay’s records as it is currently under criminal investigation. Sunita nonetheless decides to investigate the matter herself.
Sanjay is introduced as he brutally murders a man. He takes a Polaroid picture of the man, and time-stamps it “done”. It is revealed that Sanjay has a strange form of anterograde amnesia where his memory is wiped out every 15 minutes. Sanjay uses a system of photographs, notes, and tattoos on his body to recover his memory after each cycle. It is revealed that Sanjay is ultimately out to avenge Kalpana (Asin Thottumkal), and that he is systematically killing the people who were responsible for her death. His main target is “Ghajini” (Pradeep Rawat), a notable social personality in the city.
Police Inspector Arjun Yadav, on the case of the serial murders, tracks Sanjay down to his flat and attacks and disables him. Yadav finds two diaries where Sanjay has chronicled the events of 2005 and 2006. The film enters flashback to 2005 as Yadav reads the diary. Sanjay Singhania is shown as the owner of the Air Voice mobile telephone company. In the course of his business, Sanjay sends his men to meet Kalpana, a struggling model, about putting up a billboard above her apartment. The owner of Kalpana’s advertising firm misinterprets this as a romantic advance, and in view of a possible lucrative Air Voice ad campaign and other benefits, encourages Kalpana to accept the overture. Kalpana thinks of this as an innocent prank, that may fetch her better modeling work, and decides to play out the charade as Sanjay’s girlfriend.
When Yadav is about to read the 2006 diary, Sanjay attacks him and ties him up. He tracks down Ghajini to a college function where Ghajini is the guest of honor. Sanjay snaps some pictures of Ghajini and decides to kill him. He meets Sunita at the function and after some conversation, decides to befriend him. Later that evening, Sanjay mistakenly attacks and kills one of Ghajini’s goons in the parking lot. The dying goon tries to remind Ghajini about an incident that took place two years back. Ghajini is perplexed and fails to remind himself well enough.
In the meantime, Sunita visits Sanjay’s flat and finds Yadav, beaten and bound. She also finds that Ghajini is Sanjay’s target. Sunita finds the two diaries and frees Yadav. Yadav tells her that Sanjay is a known serial murderer. Sanjay arrives suddenly; he remembers neither of them and chases them out. Yadav is eventually hit by a bus, while Sunita barely escapes. Believing Ghajini is in danger, she informs him that Sanjay is after him. Ghajini arrives at Sanjay’s flat to kill him. He destroys all the photographs, notes and scratch off Sanjay’s tattoos. Satisfied that he has neutralized Sanjay by wiping out any trace that connects back to him, Ghajini leaves.
Meanwhile, back in her dorm, Sunita reads the diaries. The film flashes back to 2006. It is revealed that Kalpana had accepted Sanjay’s proposal. This diary ends abruptly. Sunita investigates further, and discovers that Kalpana was traveling for a modeling assignment by train when she came upon 25 innocent young girls being transported to Goa to work as prostitutes and organ donors. She saves the girls who name Ghajini as the ringleader of the racket. Ghajini goes in search of Kalpana. His goons broke into her apartment and wait for her to return. Sanjay arrives there to meet Kalpana. Her last word to him was “Ghajini”. The goons attack Kalpana. Sanjay intervenes but Ghajini hit him over the head with an iron rod. Sanjay’s last vision was to witness Ghajini brutally murder Kalpana with the iron rod.
Sunita, now aware of the shocking truth, finds Sanjay and tells him the truth. He flies into rage and goes after Ghajini. Arriving at Ghajini’s lair in downtown Mumbai, Sanjay brutally kills all of Ghajini’s henchmen and launches into a vicious chase-fight after Ghajini. He is about to kill Ghajini when his memory loss cycle kicks in. Ghajini turns about and stabs him. He begins to taunt Sanjay with the grisly tale of how he murdered Kalpana, when Sanjay, with a sudden burst of last minute strength, overpowers Ghajini. Sanjay kills Ghajini in the same way as Ghajini killed Kalpana.
The film ends with Sanjay, still experiencing amnesia, volunteering at an orphanage. Sunita gives him a small gift which is the cement slab of plaster on which Kalpana and Sanjay pressed their foot when Kalpana moved into a new apartment to remind him of his fond association with Kalpana.