Dasvidaniya

Before we start with this post, we'd like to make it clear that we are huge fans of the Ranvir-Vinay bunch (Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Neha Dhupia) and love watching the movies which have all of them (pls dont count Ranvir's horrid travesty called "Ugly aur Pagli" in this). So, in effect, you might find this review biased!

Dasvidaniya is the story of a 37 year old bachelor (Amar Kaul played by Vinay Pathak) who lives with his mother . He is a hyochondriac and with good reason too. Everyday after waking up, he makes a list of "To do" items and checks them off as he completes them. Monotonous sad life he lives, right? Well, early on in the movie, Amar is informed that he is in the 2nd stage of stomach cancer and has only 3 months to live.

So Amar Kaul nearly gives up on life. But a freak conversation with a crazy looking Ranvir Shorey changes his outlook. The next day Amar is making a list of the things that he wants to do before he dies.

Along his crazy trip, where everything does not necessarily go right for the dying man, he meets old friends, reunites with his estranged brother, learns to play the guitar and falls in love in a strange land.

The acting once again is top notch. Vinay Pathak plays the role of the Mumbai simpleton with such ease that he endears himself to the viewer. All other actors have fleeting roles though. Ranvir is on screen for just 5 minutes. But even in those 5 minutes, he plays the role of a Mumbai bar frequenter with ease and aplomb. Rajat Kapoor too is on screen for 10, maybe 15 minutes and breezes through his character.

Saurabh Shukla protrays Amar Kaul's bossy boss who pushes Amar around. He is always seen eating in quite a disgusting manner when he is on screen. Neha Dhupia is Amar's love since childhood. Expect a twist in the movie when Amar goes to profess his love to Neha.
Even though Dasvidaniya is the protrayal of a dying man's last wishes, it does have a sort of happy ending. It is definitely worth a watch, even if just for the performances.

Yawn rating: 0 yawns

Legend

3 and above yawns: Don't watch it even if you get free tickets!

2 yawns: Watch it only if you have to!

1 and less yawns: Worth your money

The Gang's movies:

Movies we have seen:

Mixed Doubles (2006)

Bheja Fry (2007)

Mithya (2008)

Via Darjeeling (2008)

Dasvidaniya (2008)

Movies we look forward to seeing:

Oh, My God (2008)

Raat Gayi Baat Gayi (2008)

A Wednesday

What does a normal run-of-the-mill Bollywood movie have? A clear hero-heroine (some have many), a clear villain (some have many), a handful of songs (some have many), one "item-number", some comedy, some romance, some action and a happy ending that leaves everyone happy.

A Wednesday is a movie which is different from most in those aspects. There is no hero-heroine, no songs, no item numbers, and a lot of action. The ending too, leaves you introspecting. The plot is awesome and the story line is great. A Wednesday is a short movie by bollywood standards. It's all over in ninety one minutes. Definitely, the director has done an exceptional job in keeping it so short. Had he increased the length of the movie, it would not have been as powerful.

The base of the story is strong. Anupam Kher plays Commisoner of Police Prakash Rathod. Naseeruddin Shah plays an Anonymous character who holds Mumbai city at ransom. He claims to have planted five bombs in Mumbai and his only demand is for four arrested terrorists to be handed over to him. What do you expect when you put in stalwarts of Indian cinema Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah together in the same movie? Powerful acting.

The acting is amazing to say the least. Both main characters are potrayed with such aplomb that you actually start believing that Anupam Kher is the Commisoner of Police and Naseeruddin Shah is really a terrorist! A special mention should also go out to Jimmy Shergill who plays ATS Office Arif Khan. He has surely taken his acting to a whole new level. He plays the role of the angry young no-nonsense cop with such ease.

After a lot of twists and turns through the 91 minutes of the movie, the viewer is left shell-shocked at the end. We actually exchanged glances at the end, and both of us were watching the movie with open-mouthed shock! The director has used some really great camera angles and had added some extra mysteries which really do not get solved. The message at the end is clear for all to interpret in their own manner.

Check out the promo on the UTV website here.

Check out some more posters here

A suggestion - before you go watch this movie in the hall (yes, it is a must see in the hall!) make sure you do not hear the story from someone.

My favourite character: ATS Office Arif Khan (played by Jimmy Shergill) is a no-nonsense , short-tempered cop, who just cannot stand for injustice.
Pallavi's favourite character: Anonymous person (played by Naseeruddin Shah) is a mysterious, calculative person with a reason.

Yawn rating: 0 yawns
Legend
3 and above yawns: Don't watch it even if you get free tickets!
2 yawns: Watch it only if you have to!
1 and less yawns: Worth your money

Kismat Konnection

फूटी उसकी किस्मत जो इस movie को झेलने पे मजबूर हो!

Warning: This synopsis may contain spoilers so that you can avoid watching the movie.

Kismat Konnection is a long boring monotonous movie. The movie is very slow right from the start and barring a few witty moments is a drab. The build up of Shahid Kapoor's character - Raj Malhotra - has been done well, but thats only 15 minutes of the movie.

Raj Malhotra has been an outstanding student and is trying hard to make it big in the corporate world for the last 5 years. But nothing seems to be going right for Raj. Tagging along with him is his buddy Hiten Patel (Vishal Malhotra) who it seems no one refers to in the movie. Everyone says "Raj did this..." or "Raj has a meeting...", when clearly both Raj and Hiten are there. Good for Hiten, he has a girlfriend right from the start of the movie.

20 minutes into the movie, and Raj has given up hope. He loses electricity and not-so-suprisingly his TV set turns on! Enter Hasseena Banu Jaan (Juhi Chawla), a crystal-ball-gazing-fortune-telling-love-guru-soothsayer, who is at her most irritating best by the end of the movie. She advises Raj to look out for a lucky charm and keep the charm close to him untill his work is done. A couple of incidents later and Raj is convinced that the lucky charm is Priya (Vidya Balan).

Monotony sets in as Raj tries to get his first big architectural job of building a mall. The mall is to be constructed after razing a community center which as Kismat would have it, is being saved by Priya. How she has the money to wear expensive jewellery and clothes, no one knows!

Deceit follows as Raj lies to Priya about saving the community center. Only in the last 20 minutes Priya finds out the truth and a lot of crying later, Raj proposes a new plan to save the community center and build the mall.

The plot of the movie is too thin and the research done is quite lack-lustre. The meaning of the words "veto power" have been completely changed. In terms of acting only Om Puri (Sanjeev Gill) and Himani Shivpuri (Mrs. Sanjeev Gill) acted well and were humourous. All others need to take stalk of their lives and look to see what a bad movie they have been a part of.

In case you want to see the movie just to see the chemistry between Shahid and Vidya Balan, we can tell you that its nothing great. Definitely worth a miss, unless you are a glutton for punishment.

Yawn rating: 2.5 yawns

Legend

3 and above yawns: Don't watch it even if you get free tickets!

2 yawns: Watch it only if you have to!

1 and less yawns: Worth your money

Jaane Tu..ya jaane na

Jaane tu...ya jaane na is fresh! I mean, let’s face it; nowadays the debut films are getting a bit monotonous. All the new men look the same, like they don't have a barber or a washing machine at home. And all the women look like they've just stepped out of a doll shop! Jaane Tu... is purely about a bunch of actors playing their age without going around showing-off muscles, short skirts or an ugly stubble!

Jaane Tu... is primarily a love story about two friends, Jai and Aditi. Jai Singh Rathore is a smart, funny, peaceful boy who everyone cannot help but like. Aditi is an aggressive, abusive, wildcat who everyone avoids getting into fights with. Jai and Aditi have been best friends for 5 years through college and everyone assumes they will get married. But both are just good friends and even decide to look for the perfect match for each other. As the movie progresses, the two discover their true feelings through a series of sometimes comic and sometimes tragic instances.

As far as the acting goes, it’s natural and controlled. No faltu created scenes, just a realistic expression of how it would be if it wasn't a movie. Neither the hero nor the heroine is portrayed as being perfect, or pretends to know how to fight/sing/dance/seduce et al! The six friends have a natural companionship which especially shows through in the scene where they are teasing Jai about walking his new girlfriend home. It reminds you of your college days when you made fun of the newest couple and made their embarrassing moments even more embarrassing :)

While the young crowd are a peppy lot, all the parents steal the scenes with their fine acting. Neither are any of the parents the fuddy-duddy boring kinds of people, and neither are they wannabes. Nowadays, it’s a bit tiring to see the parents portrayed as hip and cool and desperately trying to compete with the young actors. In this movie, however, all the elder actors bring a smile to your face with their acting. Throughout the movie you come across normal people, barring of course, Nasir-ud-din Shah who plays the role of a “live” portrait.

We would strongly recommend this movie to all. It’s a bright movie which takes you back to your college days and will stay with you for a long time. We can’t wait to go see the movie again!

Yawn rating: 0 yawns

Legend

3 and above yawns: Don't watch it even if you get free tickets!

2 yawns: Watch it only if you have to!

1 and less yawns: Worth your money

Stranger Than Fiction

We had rented a DVD from BigFlix. In the extra features of the DVD, we came across the trailor of a very different movie. It was called Stranger than fiction. Watching the trailor, the same thought ran through our minds, we just had to see this movie.

The movie is about an IRS agent whose name is Harold Crick. Whats so strange about this movie? Well, as it turns out, a very famous writer is writing a novel about a man named Harold Crick. You ask again, whats so strange about this? As she narrates incedents, simultaneously, the same things are happening to the real Harold Crick. Picture this. He's brushing his teeth in the morning, counting his brush strokes, and at the same time the author is narrating (as she types) that her character, Mr. Harold Crick is counting his brush strokes. Even the number and type of brush strokes match. This is just one example. We wont share the better ones, as that would ruin the movie for you.

The movie is extremely funny, without being an outright comedy. It leaves the viewer shell shocked, wondering how can this be happening. And yet it's happening. The viewer is enthralled, wondering, waiting to see what will happen next.

There is another sub-plot developing when Harold Crick is required to audit a bakery owner. But the narrative voice is always there. Harold Crick is not sure whats happening to him. Some people say he's crazy and even visiting a psychiatrist is of no help to him. The biggest shock comes when Harold Crick is waiting for a bus and his wrist-watch stops working. He asks someone for the time, and suddenly the narrator announces "Little did he know, that this simple, seemingly innocuous act, would result in his imminent death". It's only halfway through the movie and everyone is stunned, Harold Crick, you and me included. Harold Crick is a genuine nice guy and the viewer is hoping that nothing happens, that he does not die.

Now begins Harold Crick's journey to find the narrator who is writing this book in which he is the main character. He visits a professor in English Literature to seek his help in finding out who the author is. Luckily for him, this professor takes him seriously. We will not give away the main storyline and like us, you should also be left guessing! This movie is a definite entertainer, very different story, and quite interestingly made. Excellent acting by Will Farrel to protray Harold Crick.

Yawn rating: 0 yawns
Legend
3 and above yawns: Don't watch it even if you get free tickets!
2 yawns: Watch it only if you have to!
1 and less yawns: Worth your money

BigFlix

We have recently taken up membership with BigFlix, which is a movie/TV show rental company. The best part is that there are no late fees and the DVDs/VCDs will be delivered to and picked up from home free of cost.

So far, we have tried BigFlix for a month and are very happy with their service. They always seemed to have the movie that we have requested and the delivery is prompt. If they are unable to catch you at home, they will leave a note to that effect.

BigFlix has a number of rental plans. Pls go through their website for more information.

The Happening - M. Night Shyamalan

Till this weekend, we had not heard of The Happening. We had not even heard that M. Night Shyamalan was making a movie. I saw an ad in the paper, that the movie was to release on Friday the 13th of June. The poster looked interesting and on reading, the story seemed even more interesting. We were excited. It did not take us more than five minutes, and we had booked ourselves two tickets for the Sunday morning show of the movie.

Suddenly, there were trailors on TV. It was like the perfect build-up to the movie. The trailors showed enough and yet left you wanting to know the reason for what was happening. It was not enough. We wanted to know more about the movie and so read a bit about it on the official site and also on IMDB (don't read the entire synopsis as it contains spoliers). Now we were ready for what was to come during the movie.

The movie starts off very well. Everything is bright and cheerful. The greenery around is abundant. Suddenly everything is not so rosy anymore. People stop in their tracks and what follows is sheer brilliance on the part of Shyamalan and yet is gruesome. Let me assure you, this movie is not for the faint hearted. Suddenly parts of north-east America are under threat from some unknown attack causing people to kill themselves. Is it a terrorist attack? Is it chemical warfare? We will let you see that for yourself.

As the movie progresses, we learn that there are three stages through which an "infected" person goes through:

Stage 1 - Confused speach patterns

Stage 2 - Disorientation

Stage 3 - Fatal

The so called "virus" is spreading thoughout the north-east America and cities, towns and villages are getting obliterated. People are killing themselves in only what we can call ingenious ways. There is the man who starts up a huge lawn-mower and lies down under it. There is the person who drives his car full speed into a tree. There is the policeman who shoots himself, the gun falls, the taxi driver who saw this picks the gun and shoots himself, the woman standing nearby sees this and shoots herself with the same gun. Then there is that woman who breaks all the windows in her house with her face! Definitely a special mention should go out to those people who climbed up trees and hung themselves off branches. What about the construction workers who just jumped off a skyscraper!

What must be appriciated is that in all the deaths, not once did Shyamalan show it in bad light. Some deaths he showed as if nature was running its normal course and these events were expected to happen. In some instances, he showed what the person was about to do, and then left it to the viewer to imagine! Not once did he make the movie look bloody. Not once did he show death in a disgusting manner, making the viewer want to throw up.

The movie covers the journey of one professor Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), his estranged wife (Zooey Deschanel) and a young girl (Ashlyn Sanchez) as they try to escape the "attacks". The acting on a whole is not that great. Zooey Deschanel seems a little crazy and viewers start to wonder if there is a sub-plot hidden in there. Definitely the performances could have been much better (This does not include those that took their own lives!). The camera angles and the locales chosen by Shyamalan are fantastic. The locales look deserted and open and give off a very eerie feel. Shyamalan is the master of camera angles. He knows how to show his subject to the viewers.

One complaint we have from this movie is that at times it gets quite repetitive. There are deaths, then more deaths and then some more deaths. Each death is different no doubt, but there were just so many deaths! Also, the basic premise of the movie is very weak. We don't wish to give the ending away, but we can tell you that it leaves viewers wondering what the hell happened! The ending is a bit dissappointing, but the movie on a whole is definitely worth a watch.

Yawn rating: 0 yawns

Legend

3 and above yawns: Don't watch it even if you get free tickets!

2 yawns: Watch it only if you have to!

1 and less yawns: Worth your money