Asambhav Movie Review

Rajiv Rai is in many ways the guru of hi-tech potboilers in Hindi. He shoots this gun-gals-gizmo film on international terrorism with a multitude of cameras. Often we get split-screen views of the conflict on hand, with different cameras capturing the characters at different places simultaneously as they tackle the drama and politics of terrorism. At times we don't know where to look. After a while we give up. Rai doesn't lag behind in technique. The techno-driven soundtrack gives a jagged edge to the plot, as our strong-and-silent commando officer Arya (Arjun Rampal) goes about the task of rescuing the Indian president (Mohan Agashe) from a chaotic clutter of villains. More...

Julie Movie Review

JULIE has a few sex-laden sequences -- after all it is based on the life of a prostitute -- but the exposure is more or less in keeping with the demand of the subject. Borrowing the essence from R.K.'s blockbuster hit RAM TERI GANGA MAILI and a bit from the Julia Roberts-Richard Gere smash hit PRETTY WOMAN, Deepak Shivdasani depicts the transition of a simple small-town girl to a high class prostitute in a metropolis. So, is it a compelling tale? Not exactly! JULIE has a few interesting moments, but the inconsistencies outweigh the positive aspects of this enterprise. More...

Gayab Movie Review

You know the director is in serious trouble. After a point you wonder why on earth this film with its gawky special effects was made in the first place! There is an effort in every Ram Gopal Varma film to try something new, to push the limits. But in "Gayab", one wonders what he is trying to achieve.The basic premise of an inconspicuous common man (played by Tusshar Kapoor) who gets his wish of vanishing into thin air is promising -- though for home-viewing purposes. It allows the maltreated protagonist a certain lascivious leeway into places where civilised society does not allow us to enter. More...

Garv Movie Review

"Garv" is designed to get the masses into a foam-and-fume-filled frenzy. Every sequence in debutant director Puneet Issar's film ends with a double exclamation mark. Every massy filmmaker from Prakash Mehra to Iqbal Durrani gets close to the people's pulse by tapping the basest instincts in the audience. Issar gets down to basics double quick. "Garv" doesn't waste time in establishing the cop-hero as the rebel without a pause! More...

Thoda Tum Badlo Thoda Hum Movie Review

What's with these south Indian remakes? After "Tujhe Meri Kasam" and "Khushi", this is the third remake where boy and girl seem to hate each other till the eleventh hour.Till then we suffer their puerile, juvenile bitching and bickering played out at an ear-shattering octave.Like all remakes this one too suffers from a congenital cultural disorder. The outwardly hip MTV-inspired youngsters on the college campus seem to think in Telugu and speak in a Hindi that looks so outdated as sambar-vada at McDonalds. More...

Shikaar Movie Review

It's a 'glaring' strategy. The film's official hero Jas Pandher changes his glares in almost every sequence. This, you soon realise, is an ingenious method of hiding the actor's ineptness as a performer.And if the budget for the goggles came to more than the film's entire production cost, then who are we to complain?

The nitty-gritty of producing an in-house film is a matter to be sorted out between the hero and his producer-dad. Both seem to have worked really hard at creating a product that does its utmost to conceal Jas' glaring weaknesses. More...

Hyderabad Blues 2 Movie Review

All right, the good news first. Nagesh Kukunoor's "Hyderabad Blues" sequel is just the appetizing stuff we were all hoping for.

After his grossly underrated "3 Deewaarein" last year, Kukunoor needed to return to his roots. The small but engaging film takes capricious semi-satirical swipes at middleclass mores.

Varun Naidu hasn't changed since we last met him six years ago. Still toothy and a bit flustered by the great Indian chaos, the most radical change in his life since we last met him is the dissolution of his green-card status. More...

Deewar Movie Review

The film has some great moments. It is a thorough entertainer like Milan Luthria's previous film Kachhe Dhaage, which also was an escape drama about Ajay Devgan and Saif Ali Khan escaping. Deewar is slickly paced, but has a slightly tried and tested formula. Milan Luthria's storytelling is however worth mentioning.

Amitabh Bachchan gets a hero's role after a long time. He did carry Baghban on his shoulders and carried this one too, admirably. Bachchan has not lost any of his charm and personality. Since he plays his age, the role suits well. More...

Lakshya Movie Review

It is a Hrithik Roshan film all the way. The characters suit him to the T. Characters as in the role of the young aimless boy who gets his Lakshya as well as the role of the soldier who has the nation's name on his lips. The role has been written for him like the way Javed Akhtar used to write roles for Amitabh earlier. Hrithik excels in all the scenes... Hrithik's character unfolds very well and he handles both characters with ease like he did in Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. More...

Raghu Romeo Movie Review

Raghu Romeo (Vijay Raaz), a waiter in a sleazy dance bar, is in absolute awe and in love with the ideal woman Neeta on screen Reshma in real (Maria Goretti). Raghu has lost distinction between fantasy and reality and is head over heels in love with the character in a long running soap opera, "Dard ka Rishta". The film of course has a love triangle. Sweety (Saadiya Siddiqui) a beer bar dancer secretly loves Raghu while a gangster and frequent visitor at the bar, Mario (Saurabh Shukla) is all eyes for Sweety. The plot thickens when Raghu learns that someone is trying to kill Neetaji. More...

Chot Movie Review

The migrant's tale in Mumbai isn't a new one. We've seen Farouque Shaikh and Om Puri as misplaced migrants in Muzaffar Ali's "Gaman" and Sudhir Mishra's "Dharavi".

Director Nabhkumar Raju's previous Sooraj Barjatya-inspired romantic musical "Hum Tumpe Marte Hain" gave us no clue as to what he has in store this time. More...

Girlfriend Movie Review

Hell is where Karan Razdan takes us in "Girlfriend". Nothing wrong in a view from the underbelly. But alternate sexuality cannot be turned into an occasion for exhibitionism.
Razdan discards every sensitive bone in his creative body to make a frontal attack on our perceptions of romantic love as defined by cinematic boy-meets-girl formulas. More...