Plot;

On her 18th birthday, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) wakes up from a dream in which she sees herself as an old woman. She expresses her distaste with growing older than her boyfriend Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a vampire who stopped aging physically at 17. Despite her lack of enthusiasm, Edward’s adoptive family throws Bella a birthday party. While unwrapping a gift, Bella gets a paper cut, causing Edward’s brother, Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), to become overwhelmed by her blood’s scent and attempt to kill her. Realizing the danger that he and his family pose to Bella, Edward ends their relationship, and the Cullens leave Forks, Washington.
Edward’s departure leaves Bella heartbroken and depressed for months. However, when her father, Charlie (Billy Burke), decides to send her to live with her mother in Florida, Bella agrees to spend time with her friends. After seeing a movie with Jessica (Anna Kendrick), Bella sees a group of men on motorcycles. This reminds her of when Edward previously rescued her from an assault, and she sees his image warning her to stay away. Bella discovers that thrill-seeking activities evoke Edward’s preserved image. She is also comforted by her deepening friendship with Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) , a cheerful companion who eases her pain over losing Edward. When Jacob suddenly begins avoiding her, Bella discovers he has become a werewolf, an age-old enemy of vampires. Jacob’s pack members are on constant patrol for Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre), a vampire searching to kill Bella due to the death of her mate, leaving Jacob little time to spend with her. Alone again, Bella returns to seeking thrill-inducing activities.
Through a series of miscommunications, Edward believes Bella has killed herself after she jumped off a cliff into the ocean. Distraught over her supposed suicide, Edward travels to Italy to provoke the Volturi, a powerful vampire coven capable of killing him, by exposing himself in the sunlight. Alice (Ashley Greene), Edward’s sister, and Bella rush to Italy to save Edward, and arrive just in time to stop him. It is then that Edward tells Bella that he always loved her and only left to protect her. However, the Volturi determine that Bella, a human who knows that vampires exist, must either be killed or transformed into a vampire herself. Alice stops them from killing her by sharing her premonition with Aro, a Volturi elder who is able to read thoughts, in which Bella has been transformed. Soon after, they return to Forks and Bella forgives Edward for leaving her. The Cullens vote in favor of Bella being transformed into a vampire, to Edward’s dismay. However, Jacob reminds Edward of the treaty the Cullens made with the Quileute tribe: they will not attack each other, as long as the Cullens do not bite any humans. The movie concludes with Edward telling Bella that he will change her into a vampire if she marries him first.

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.

* Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, who finds herself surrounded by danger and targeted by the vengeful vampire Victoria. In the meantime, she must choose between her love for vampire Edward Cullen and her friendship with werewolf Jacob Black.
* Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, Bella’s vampire boyfriend who is capable of reading minds, except for Bella’s. In New Moon, Edward left Bella, and now he has returned to try to stay a part of her life.
* Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black, a werewolf in whom Bella found solace during Edward’s absence in New Moon. Now, Edward has returned to Bella’s life permanently, and Jacob is looking for ways to prove that he is a better choice for her.

Plot;

Riley Biers (Xavier Samuel) is attacked and bitten by Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard), in order to begin creating an army of newborns set to destroy Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). Back in Forks, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Bella discuss the complications of becoming an immortal vampire. At 18 years old, one year older than the age Edward was when he became a vampire, Bella expresses her aversion to the idea of marrying so young, though Edward refuses to turn her until they’re married and she’s had various human experiences she would otherwise miss. While Charlie Swan (Billy Burke) investigates the disappearance of Riley Biers, Edward suspects his disappearance was caused by the newborn vampires. Furthering his suspicions is the intrusion of Riley into Bella’s room.

Although Edward fears for her safety, Bella insists that Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) and the rest of the werewolf pack would never harm her, but Edward is still not convinced. Bella goes to La Push to see Jacob, and returns home unharmed. During one of her visits, Jacob confesses that he is in love with Bella, and kisses her. Mad, she punches him and breaks her hand, and Edward later threatens to break Jacob’s jaw. Bella even revokes the invitations of Jacob and his pack members to her graduation party, but when Jacob apologizes for his behavior, she forgives him.

Meanwhile, Alice (Ashley Greene) sees a vision that the newborn army is attacking Forks led by Riley Biers. Jacob, accompanied by Quil (Tyson Houseman) and Embry (Kiowa Gordon) overhear this, which leads to an alliance between the Cullens and Wolf pack. Later, the Cullens and the wolves agree a meeting place and time to train and discuss strategy. During the training Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) explains to Bella that he was created by a vampire called Maria to control a newborn army. He hated his original existence and upon meeting Alice, joined the Cullens with her. Bella sees the true bond between a mated vampire pair and begins to understand Jasper better. Despite her reluctance to marry, Bella realizes that spending eternity with Edward is more important to her than anything else agrees to marry him. Edward and Bella camp up in the mountains to hide Bella from the bloodthirsty newborns. During the night, Bella overhears a conversation between Edward and Jacob, in which they temporarily put aside their hatred towards each other. In the morning, Jacob overhears Edward and Bella discussing their engagement and becomes very upset. Before he can run off to get himself killed in the fight with the newborns, Bella desperately asks him to kiss her, and she realizes that she has fallen in love with him. Edward finds out about the kiss but isn’t angry, as Bella says she loves him more than Jacob.

Victoria eventually finds Bella’s hiding spot, and Edward kills her while Seth kills her partner Riley. The Cullens and the Quileute wolves, meanwhile, destroy her “army”, though Jacob is injured saving Leah Clearwater from a newborn. Several members of the Volturi arrive to deal with the newborn army. They also see that the Cullens are guarding the newborn, Bree Tanner (Jodelle Ferland.), who had refused to fight and surrendered to Carlisle. Jane (Dakota Fanning) tortures Bree to get information, then instructs Felix to kill her, despite the Cullens’ efforts to spare her. When Jane notes that Caius will find it interesting that Bella is still human, Bella informs her that the date for her transformation has been set. Bella visits the injured Jacob to tell him that even though she is in love with him, she has chosen to be with Edward. Sad by her choice, Jacob reluctantly agrees to stop trying to come between her and Edward.

Bella and Edward go to their meadow, where she tells him she has decided to do things his way: get married, make love, then be transformed into a vampire. She also explains that she never has been normal and never will be; she’s felt out of place her entire life, but when she is in Edward’s world she feels stronger. They then decide they need to tell Charlie about their engagement.

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.