abhaybhargav Reviews

Dhoom 2 (2006)

A Dumb Man's intelligent film

[1/10 · 24 November 2006]

I went to the theater yesterday with a almost no expectations from this movie, as I had hated its predecessor (Dhoom). But it succeeded in confounding my expectations. This movie was worse than I expected. I felt awkward even sitting there and watching that drivel from the first scene to the last. The "story" is outlined this way. Hrithik Roshan is the meticulous and extremely successful Mr.A, who pulls off the most impossible robberies. He jumps of trains, manages to have his own against the most well prepared security forces, with gravity defying stunts and kicks, not to forget the "disguises". He is "disguised" as the queen to rob the queen's jewels. He steals the world's most priceless artefacts, not to sell them. Now enter, Jai Dixit and his half idiotic, low IQ friend, Ali (Abhishek and Uday). Their first scene where they capture a bunch of nitwit criminals is as unbelievable as it can get. He is joined by college buddy Shonali (Bipasha), in the hunt for Mr.A. They are always given the slip, by the wily Mr.A, who continues to rob the priceless items, with his brains and gizmos par excellence (how he funds these gizmos, god knows). Mr.A later meets his soul mate, during a robbery, where Suneheri (Aishwarya) uses The "A" name to rob a castle of a priceless sword. Suneheri and Mr.A form a deadly alliance and give the police a slip all the way. The story loses whatever little sanity it possessed, at this point and begins to meander way off course. This movie would have been slightly better with a fewer songs and some believable action scenes. It also desperately needs Direction and a script. Everyone except Hrithik sleepwalk through the movie. Aishwarya especially proves once again, that she is more a glam doll than a serious actor. Abhishek Bachchan sleepwalks through the film and his "Cool-dude", Shelock Holmes-esquire demeanour begins to irritate. Uday Chopra tries his hand at comedy, but comes up with lame ones most of the time. Bipasha Basu...Why was she there in the movie..?? Makes you wonder. Hrithik "saves" the day for Dhoom, doing some justice to his role. Coming to the technicals. Direction is not of very high quality. The Director (Gadhvi) has focused more on bikinis and skimpy clothes, rather than trying to make a slick, taught thriller. The dialogues are forced and have no impact whatsoever. The story could have been told much better with the actual presence of a SCRIPT. Pritam seems to be directing the same type of music. The music scores nothing. The cinematography shines like a diamond in all this muck, but could have gone easy on the slow motion. Half the scenes seem to be in slow motion.

After all this, I can only say. If your spouse is nagging you really bad on a beautiful weekend and all you need, is to sleep. Then you might consider watching this film.

Iqbal (2005)

Very classy Flick

[8/10 · 12 September 2005]

I went to this movie just today. I heard great reviews from everybody and I finally watched it today. Nagesh Kukunoor has the knack of coming up with some good films, especially off late after Teen Deewarein(Which was brilliant). This movie I think is another feather in his cap. This story is about a deaf mute, Iqbal (Shreyas Talpade), who lives in the small village of Kolipad and dreams of becoming a great cricketer. His father is totally against his love for the game but his mother and sister push him towards his dream. Iqbal is first coached by a devious Girish Karnad, who ditches him for a rich kid. His only refuge is the village drunk Mohit(played brilliantly by Naseeruddin Shah), a former Ranji cricketer. The relationship between Iqbal and Mohit is beautifully brought out on screen. Iqbal's sister (played by Shweta) also gives a brilliant performance. But the cherry on the cake belongs to Naseeruddin Shah. His charm is infectious. He breathes life into the character of Mohit with effortless ease. Shreyas Talpade has also brought in a very good performance. He has really emoted very well and has done justice to his role as the deaf mute. The actor playing Iqbal's father also does a very good job. I think this movie is for the masses as well as the classes. It will be enjoyed by one and all. As the movie's bylane rightly puts it. "It is a story above Cricket."

Ramji Londonwaley (2005)

It is OK! A decent Timepass Film

[5/10 · 6 September 2005]

I went to this movie with great reluctance. I was told by a good friend that it is the remake of a Tamil Film Nala Damayanthi, which was very good. I found it to be a decent masala film. The story is about a cook Ramji(Madhavan), who gets his sister married but cannot find the cash to pay for her dowry. His sister's father-in-law threatens him that if he doesn't pay the dowry quickly he will have no option, but to throw his sister out. He is given an offer to go to London to cook for a wealthy Indian Family, and he takes it in the hope of making some money for his sister's dowry. This story basically deals with he culture shock faced by poor Ramji in the alien land of England and the funny situations he gets himself into. He finds his Indian roots to be of great help in London and becomes a much loved character there. He also manages to find himself a love interest played by Samita Bangargi. She is the modern Gori Mem and she moves from hating Ramji to loving him deeply(Very Original!!!!). The comedy in the movie is good but it loses way in the middle. The movie tries to do too much and falls flat on its face. The scenes with the Immigration officials are a little silly. Overall a decent movie. A family entertainer. If you have 3 hours to kill, you can go for it.

Earth (1998)

Brilliant!!

[9/10 · 15 August 2005]

This movie is a class apart. The true picture of the partition is presented here in this masterpiece by Deepa Mehta. The viewers don't see the glory of Independence but the heart wrenching drama of the Partiton of India and Pakistan. The story starts off very well with Aamir Khan and Nandita Das. The little girl, who plays Leeny Baby has done a brilliant job. Her role as a physically challenged 10 year old Parsi girl is just superb. Nandita Das brings great credibility to the character of ShantaBibi. Her emotions towards Aamir and Rahul Khanna are shown on screen very well. Her devotion to Lenny and the Parsi Family are all brilliantly done. The other actors like the Parsi Family are well cast and they have good roles to play in the film. But the movie, like so many others before it, belongs to Aamir Khan. His metamorphosis in the movie is beautifully shown. His easygoing charm and his way with words captures the audience as they feel that he is really Dil Nawaz, The Ice-Candy Man. His lust for ShantaBibi is shown beautifully. His reaction at the death of his sister, in the train from India is stupendous. He begins to change from the easy going Ice Candy Man to the silent religious fanatic. He finally releases one final stroke which completes the movie and leaves the audience shocked. Rahul Khanna tries very hard but find himself seriously out classed by Aamir and Nandita. His character should have been given to a better actor. He was one of the few flaws of the movie. The other actors like Raghuveer Yadav who converts from Brahmin to Muslim is also a very good character. He does a fine job of his cameo role. Khulbhushan Kharbanda also performs his role authenticity.

The movie is a little slow at times, but on the whole it is just brilliant. It shakes the viewers into the horror, that was the Indian Partition. We should all be thankful for having good lives after watching this movie.

Mangal Pandey (2005)

A very well made film

[8/10 · 12 August 2005]

I had very high expectations from this movie. It lived up to most of them. I found it to be extremely well handled{Kudos to the director Ketan Mehta}. The acting was quite brilliant and the whole movie packed a great punch. But even this time as always Aamir Khan carried the movie through and through. He was just superb. His emotion, his fanaticism and his change in the movie is just brilliantly portrayed. The movie does have its flaws. It stretches a bit towards the end. One song in particular could have been avoided. The characters have shown great depth and development. Toby Stevens as William Gordon deserves a huge applause. He has pulled off a great performance. There is a little Bollywood touch to the movie, some scenes are stereotypical. The other actors are perfectly cast. The use of songs in the movie was excellent. They are very well enmeshed into the story.

Overall, I think it is an Intelligent film. I think it will be very well accepted by the masses.