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.

Plot;

Jay (Imran Khan) is an assistant to a director who is famous for his love story films; however, Jay hates love stories, and is a player. He believes love is nothing but a “sickness” which must be cured. On the other side of the story, Simran (Sonam Kapoor) loves love stories and has a fiancé named Raj (Sameer Dattani). She is living a perfect life until Jay enters with his cynical opinions on love.

Director: Pravesh Bhardwaj

Plot;
Aditya Mehta (Prashant Narayanan) is an artist who is more shown painting his wife’s toenails than the colours of the canvas. His wife Sakhi Mehta (Lucy Hassan) is shown to be having an extramarital affair with Karan Singh (Naved Aslam). Now, Karan’s wife Neera Singh (Aruna Shields) discovers that her husband is cheating on her and she ends up seeking solace in Aditya’s company. They get drawn together by shame and anger as they find more comfort in each other’s friendship. But despite bonding well, they try not to have a relationship with each other.

One fails to understand that though the adultery is shown openly obvious since the start, why do Aditya and Neera never try to confront their respective partners over it? Trying to make the film more provocative widespread nudity has been incorporated on the pretext that overcome his block by painting nude female form ala Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. Now funnily, Neera is shown to be shying away from posing nude for the painting that Aditya wants to do, despite the fact that she has been shown moving around naked in Aditya’s warehouse for big part of the film. What irritates more are the continually censored blurs that attempt to cover up her nude body. The climax is supposedly symbolic but it is too rushed that you end up feeling there some more of the film left! There is nothing wrong in making a complete art house project but at least let the film connect on some level or derive some emotion out of the viewer apart from frustration!

Debutante director Pravesh Bhardwaj takes his own sweet time to establish the growing proximity between Aditya and Neera but leaves it hurriedly towards the climax. The film’s shot in London but you don’t see much of it apart from some unflattering lanes of London. A wonderful ghazal based track by Shujaat Hussain Khan goes waste in a film like this.

Prashant Narayanan is just about okay but he has done better work before. Aruna Shields is made to expose her body more than her acting skills. Lucky Hassan is passable. Naved Aslam is fair.

Introducing Jahan Bloch, Samir Aftab, Adiya Singh Rajput, Harsh Rajput, Farida Jalal, Ranjeet, Govind Namdeo, Mukesh Tiwari and Aman Verma

Director: Mehul Kumar

Review;
Designed as a sequel to the super successful Krantiveer (1994) which got Nana Patekar the Best Actor, National Award, Krantiveer – The Revolution (KTC) is a weak attempt at recreating the patriotic fervor which the original had.

Roshni (Jahan Bloch) is the young daughter of the man responsible for the last revolution, Pratap Narayan Tilak and his wife (Nana Patekar and Dimple Kapadia). She just like her dad wants to rid the nation of corruption, and the evils present in the society. She gets herself a platform by joining a TV channel as an investigative journalist. She is hell bent on exposing all the scams in the country including those involving high profile businessmen and top ministers. Along with her friends Vishal (Samir Aftab), Goldie (Aditya Singh Rajput) and Uday (Harsh Rajput) she takes this crusade forward and becomes successful eventually despite many odds.

The sole reason why Krantiveer was a success was because of KK Singh’s dialogues, Nana Patekar’s character and Mehul Kumar’s direction. Here Singh is not involved with the project, Nana is not acting in the film and the veteran director though having made a sincere attempt, falls short. There is no direct relation of the plot to any of the 26/11 terror attack scenes which come towards the climax. Though Mehul Kumar has tried to show authenticity by using footage of the 26/11 terrorists attacks, he fails to impress the audiences.

His debutante daughter Jahan has been made to rant lengthy dialogues from the word go. While she does it with sincerity, it doesn’t really work. Too much responsibility has been given on her shoulders leaving less scope for the rest. New comers Samir Aftab, Adiya Singh Rajput, Harsh Rajput put in their honest efforts too. Senior actors like Ranjeet, Farida Jalal hardly get any scope to perform. Aman Verma playing the corporate head honcho, Mukesh Tiwari and Govind Namdeo playing sleazy ministers act well.

Music by Sachin-Jigar is passable and the songs “Khuda mere khuda’ and “Chhote tera birthday aaya’ work on screen. But the songs “Firangi paani’ and “Lau jalee’ were not needed. Editing and cinematography don’t match up to standards.

Though it may not be worth an effort to go to the cinema hall, the film definitely appears like a genuine attempt to awaken the young Indians to come forward and erase corruption from our politics.

Director: Mani Ratnam

Review;
Since the time of the announcement of Mani Ratnam’s Raavan, curiosity about how India’s most accomplished filmmaker manages to do a modern day adaptation of the mythological epic, Ramayan, has known no bounds. Thankfully, Mani succeeds in his own inimitable way. His team’s painstaking hard work shows in every frame of the film and his actors help him raise the film’s bar.

The film opens with policemen killed at various places around Lal Maati, a small town in Northern India. This is followed by abduction of the local police chief Dev’s (Vikram) wife Raagini (Aishwarya Rai). The dreaded low cast tribal lord Beera (Abhishek) is behind the kidnapping. Dev (Vikram) immediately gets hot on the trail of Beera with trusted lieutenant Hemant (Nikhil Dwivedi) and seeks the help of the jovial forest guard Sanjeevani (Govinda). Beera knows the dense jungle like the back of his hand and is helped by the tribals, managing to stay just one step ahead of Dev and his team. But as the cat and mouse chase proceeds between Beera and Dev, the initial hate of Raagini for Beera subsides. As Dev inches closer, the near maniacal Beera shows he has a heart too and Raagini almost loses hers to him. What follows after Beera and Dev come face to face forms the rest of the film.

Taking on a mega epic like Ramayan and turning it on its head giving his own personal interpretation, Mani Ratnam dares to depart from the religious text and succeeds in showcasing how Ram can be a Raavan and how a Raavan can also be a Ram. Aided by the best technical crew of Indian cinema, Mani has made his multilayered film, a technical marvel to watch with awe. The first half moves on rapidly mostly focusing on Dev’s chase of Beera, but however it gets boring beyond a point since the story hardly moves ahead. Mani also fails to establish the exact setting of the outlaws. Are they Naxals or a modern day Robin hood gang? But it is the beginning of the second half where Mani begins to pack his solid punches and achieves the peak with an unusual climax. Beera’s background (the reason for Raagini’s abduction), Dev’s impatience to grab Beera, Raagini’s gradual change of perception about Beera and eventually the final face off between Dev and Beera have all been terrifically captured.

Abhishek is nothing short of brilliant, portraying Beera. If you thought Abhishek delivered his best under Mani in Yuva and Guru, watch Raavan for his evolvement into an actor of true caliber. Aishwarya Rai delivers a top notch act. Makeup less and forever battered and bruised, Aishwarya’s eyes convey a lot more than the shrieking her character has to resort to most of the time. Vikram unfortunately is saddled with a one dimensional character for most part of the film until the climactic punch. He looks fearless and arouses enough curiosity as an actor to watch him play Beera in the Tamil version of the film. Govinda as Sanjeevani brings on the much required comic relief in the tense proceedings and succeeds. Ravi Kissen grabs the opportunity to impress with both his hands and does well. Priyamani playing Beera’s sister, in her brief role manages to bring out the pathos of her unfortunate character.

Mani takes you to virgin locations within India never exposed before on screen. Be it the thick dense forests in Kerala or the same state’s dangerous Athirappally Waterfalls or the exotic Orcha in Madhya Pradesh and Malshej Ghat valley in Maharashtra, Santosh Sivan and Manikandan’s camera captures it all with super finesse. The action finale on the hanging bridge, a never seen before feat in Indian cinema makes your heart skip a beat.

Oscar winner A.R. Rahman’s music coupled with Gulzar’s lyrics is mesmerizing but Mani hardly gives any time for any song to register any impact, as if in a quick hurry.

The subtle statement Mani incorporates against the system on behalf of the low caste have-nots is laudable but could have been a little more elaborate. Nevertheless, as Mani Ratnam’s metaphoric interpretation of the grand epic, Raavan definitely deserves a visit to your nearest cinema hall for its plusses certainly over ride its minuses.