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Reviews
Enthiran (2010)
The most technologically advanced Indian movie till date
Endhiran (Robot in Hindi and Telugu) is vintage Rajinikanth fare wrapped in glossy futuristic techno-savvy material. There are 3 Rajinis here to contend with - (1) Dr. Vasigaran who creates the titular Robot, (2) Chitti ver 1.0 the lovable Robot who at times reminds you of Robin Williams in Bicentennial Man, and (3) Chitti ver 2.0 who hugely reminds you of Rajini's Alex Pandyan in Moondru Mugam, except that this one is a 100 times more brilliant! The plot has been neatly drafted out, and the action scenes are spectacular! This is by far Shankar's most ambitious project and it shows in every frame. The storyline is simple - man creates machine, man teaches machine how to become human, machine absorbs the worst of human nature instead of the best and creates havoc while replicating itself, man destroys machine (that's a plot giveaway, but hello, do you think mainstream Indian fare would ever have the bad guys winning?) Rajni's performance as 3 different personalities is just perfect and reminds you of the actor Rajinikanth of yesteryear who had slowly given way for superstar Rajinikanth. He manages to emote well as Vasigaran, underplay as the emotionless Chitti, and be an over the top maniacal and supremely menacing Chitti ver 2.0! The fight as goddess Kali/Durga/whoever is delightful, the train fight sequence is whistle worthy fun, and the mind blowing special effects during the climax surpasses those one would have witnessed in recent super hero movies such as the Iron Man and Spiderman. No, I'm not kidding - the FX in the climax scene really are better and more jaw dropping than what Hollywood has offered us! The movie does has its yawn-evoking moments though they are thankfully few and far between - Vasigaran's romance with Aishwarya Rai(though the lady still manages to look gorgeous), the silly conversation with the mosquitoes and a couple of songs that weren't really needed. The one song that blows your mind is Arima Arima with a 100+ evil Chitti ver 2.0s, while the music of the title song ensures that your adrenaline gets pumped up right at the start of the movie! Having said that, this is not one of Rahman's best works.
This movie is for everyone who have been praying to see the Indian film industry rise to the level of Hollywood in technical finesse. This movie is for everyone who love Indian movies for their entertainment value, and not just for Rajinikanth fans. So, grab your popcorn, lean back in your seat, whistle a few dozen times when the superstar performs his stunts and have a wonderful time at the cinemas. This movie is the reason why people watch mainstream movies!
Devdas (2002)
Opulent and mind-blowing sets, mediocre acting and script
The movie is excellent in it's grandiose production values, but fails to make the audience empathize with any of it's characters, because of mediocre acting(or extreme over-acting, I should say), repetitive dialogues and a mundane script. But the sets alone are worth the 8 bucks one pays to see the movie, since they are probably the best I've seen ever!(and that includes competition from Star Wars, LOTR etc)!
Aankhen (2002)
Reasonably gripping movie with surprising twists unique to Indian cinema
The movie is about a recently fired schizophrenic bank manager scheming to get even with his employers by robbing the bank with the help of three blind men and a beautiful blind school teacher! Amitabh Bachchan as the bank manager excels in his role. He is one of the most talented guys out there today. Pity not all his movies are as good as this one or his earlier Aks. The movie moves with a fast pace initially, but slows down towards the middle with cursory song and dance sequences spoiling its pace(the two songs - one with the three blind guys and the other in the bar are very painful to sit through). It picks up pace towards the end and even has quite a few surprising twists that I most certainly didn't expect in a mainstream hindi movie! Good job director and script writer! Thank goodness you didn't make the movie boring by removing those twists and giving us a bland fare which most box-office fearing mediocre directors would have done. Akshay, Paresh, Arjun and Sush all perform their roles well.
There are a few glitches in the movie - like the name of the bank. A most ridiculous name. Then the location of the bank itself. A bank that has a lobby looking like that of a 3-star hotel is located in the midst of a busy and dirty side street in Mumbai! Sure! None of the songs are appealing, except the one with Bipasha Basu - in fact the rest of the songs are really irritating and definitely jarring in the midst of an interesting screenplay. Directors of India - I LOVE songs in a movie; but not when it interrupts the movie's flow drastically.
Overall, a must see movie.
Kaun? (1999)
One of the best thrillers of recent times!
A house. A stormy evening. A young paranoid girl alone in the house. A TV report about some serial killer on the loose in the city. A stranger knocks the door.... The movie begins like this and the gripping suspense does not waver a bit throughout the movie. The whole movie has only three characters - one paranoid girl and two guys who both appear weird and capable of being a serial killer. The ending is guaranteed to throw you off your chair... It's been ages since I saw a brilliant movie like this. Scream, I know what you did last summer all pale in comparison to the gem that Ram Gopal Varma has directed. While the movie seems to be a tad bit slow in the first twenty minutes or so, it gains pace after that and never stops to surprise, shock and thrill us until the end. I simply cannot give away the end - it is too good! The movie has no songs and is less than 2 hours long - a novelty for an Indian movie.
I personally feel that it's the best Indian thriller to date, and one of the best thrillers in the world!