Mankatha movie review

The Plot
"THALA 50" finally released today. So much frenzy. So much hype. The movie lives up to the hype gloriously and provides the best Thala treat since 2007. The best 50th movie any fan can get from his favorite hero.

The plot is as expected about cricket betting. The 500 crores worth money is expected to come to Golden Theater in Dharavi that is under the control of Chettiyar a big shot who is into many businesses and has many contacts.

4 guys plan to loot this money and settle in life. Ganesh, Mahat, Prem and Sumanth are these 4. Vinayak Mahadevan, a suspended cop also joins in the game and takes over the planning and execution in style. The money is looted but problems start cropping up.

The cops are after the money, Chettiyar's men are after the money and of course the 5 men also have their eyes on the money. Mahat and Prem escape with the money leaving Vinayak and the other 2 fuming and desperate for their share. A mad elimination game begins. What happens next is the movie's thrilling ending that has so much entertainment, fun and one helluva twist in the climax.

                                                                       
Hits

• THALA THALA DAN. What style. What mass. Debonair to the core. His grey hair, the light stubble, the coolers, the smoking style and the casual dressing are a REAL TREAT for Thala veriyans. Just fell in love with him all over again. Couldn't take my eyes off him.


• Venkat Prabhu has outshone all his previous works and really sprung a surprise with his handling of this dark, deadly, action packed and thrilling movie for the men. 


• The interval block is an example of what Thala can do in negative roles. This scene gives a mad adrenaline rush to all fans in the theater. 


• The way the title card screams out THALA 50 with all the different faces of Ajith's film career after Thala's intro fight in police dress, is a goose bumps moment for all Thala veriyans. 


• His look in the climax in another surprise and Thala carries off this look brilliantly too. The climatic twist is another big highlight. 


• The end credits are funny and light hearted. 


• Arjun as the cop Prithviraj is smart, fit as always and very agile in stunts. An apt foil for Thala. 


• The editor Praveen deserves a royal salute. The look of the film is top notch and he has showed Thala like a real rock-star with his stylish cuts and techniques. Cinematographer Sakthi Saravanan must also be lauded for his contribution towards the look of the movie.


• Yuvan and co.'s BG score is terrific and lifts the mood for all the thrilling action scenes and chases.


• The scenes showing Thala planning how to get into gang and the way they pull off the heist is very interesting and pumping. 


• The action sequences have been shot grandly though they are quite long at times.


• Premji lightens the mood in many scenes and his pranks as the IIT genius are funny most of the times. 

Misses

• The song placements particularly 'Vada Bin Lada'


• Some blips in the VFX

Comments

• Too many scenes glorifying Ajith's smoking style and his drinking antics


• Lots of bad words and beeps heard in Ajith's dialogs particularly in the second half when he becomes mad about the missing money. 


• Too many fights that might put off a few in the family. 


• The girls in the movie don't have much work. Trisha is Ajith's pair, Anjali is Vaibhav's wife and Andrea is Arjun's wife. Lakshmi Rai is also part of the heist and she has the best part among all the girls. She is SMOKING HOTT. 


• The remaining boys in the movie are mostly standard in all Venkat movies and they do their part. Ashwin as the cop Ganesh is smart and impressive in particular. 

VERDICT

A royal treat for Ajith fans. THALA MANIA all over again after Billa in 2007. The best 50th movie Thala could have provided to his hard core fanatics. Venkat Prabhu rises to the occasion like a true talent and THALA shows his grey side in all its glory 

Bodyguard (2011)

The Plot
A bodyguard named Lovely Singh is given the task of protecting the college going Divya, the daughter of a man who is regarded very highly by Lovely. Lovely is sort of a one man army and he protects even high profile people like Katrina Kaif and smashes wrong doers to pulp singlehandedly.

Lovely accompanies her to college in his official uniform and coolers. His stiff and stern approach irks Divya and in order to soften him and to get him out of his uniform, she starts calling him regularly in a different voice and with a different name Chaya. Slowly she falls in love with Lovely. Lovely doesn't know that it is Divya. Divya also has a close friend who stays with her.

In the end, she plans to elope with Lovely at the station but things go haywire and Lovely meets Chaya, but not the real one.

There is a also a fat comedy side-kick, a midget comedian, some villains who are after Lovely and Divya. All is well in the end after a twist in the plot.

A sub-standard remake of the Malayalam movie "Bodyguard". Even the Tamil version "Kavalan" was much better than this.

                                                                               

Hits

• The beautiful 'I Love You' song.


• Salman impresses at places with his stiff walks, serious bodyguard body language and his nervousness before girls.  

Misses

• The stunts are horrible and too over the top


• The VFX is very amateurish and very funny 


• The comedy track is mostly very ordinary


• Poor BG score. 

Comments

• Kareena looks jaded and heavily made-up. Too old for an MBA student. She looks much suited for the serious climax

VERDICT

A poor remake. The Malayalam and Tamil versions are much better. Sort of "BAKWAS". But the Hindi belt might provide patronage. 

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Plot

The movie starts off with Verbal Kint being interrogated by the cops. Agent Kujan grills him even though he has immunity from the DA. Verbal tells the story through his testimony to the cops.

The NYPD arrests 5 guys – McManus, Fenster, Hockney, Verbal and Keaton in a case of a hijacked truck having arms. It is a setup and all these 5 guys have some sort of a criminal history with Keaton being a former cop himself. Keaton was even believed to have been dead earlier.

The 5 guys are embarrassed and after they come out of prison they plan to get back at the NYPD by busting the illegal Taxi Service that is run by the NYPD cops. They pull it off and they are also led to another job in LA with a person called Redfoot.

This job goes a bit haywire and then they come to know that a lawyer called Kobayashi is behind all this. This lawyer works for a man called Keyser Soze, who has a legendary and mysterious persona and everyone is shocked at hearing his name.

These 5 guys are given a job to destroy a boat in the harbor that allegedly has a lot of cocaine. The rival Argentinians are out to close this cocaine deal worth 91 million$. They are initially reluctant to take up the job but are finally forced to take up the job after seeing the damage that Keyser Soze can do to them (Fenster is brutally murdered when he tries to escape).

The remaining 4 take up the job and they blow up the ship at the harbor but they find no cocaine. One by one they get killed by the mysterious man who is expected to be Keyser Soze. There is also a mystery behind whether Keaton is killed or not.

Kujan convinces Verbal that Keaton is indeed Keyser Soze as he doesn’t believe Verbal’s testimony that Keaton was killed. Kujan says that Keyser employed all of them to kill the one guy on the boat who could identify Keyser. Kujan also tells Verbal that he was used all along by Keaton aka Keyser because he was a cripple and a stupid. Verbal walks away dejected and cheated by all the cops (Keaton included).

Just as Verbal is walking out, Kujan realizes something earth shattering and he comes to know of the truth behind who is Keyser Soze and also the whole drama that unfolded. The climatic twist is legendary and much acclaimed.

                                                                          

Hits

• The suspense element is amazing. The tension and the thrill in the script behind who is Keyser Soze is enthralling and palpable.


• Kevin Spacey is A Rate among the huge star cast. A huge role pulled off spectacularly. To act timid and stupid comes naturally to him


• The musical score has the dramatic and tragic thrill quotient running through.


• The rest of the cast is adequate without being over the top. Just what is required. Be it Fenster or Kobayashi or Keaton etc. etc.

Comment

• Quite complex and multi-layered with a lot of characters and situations. 

VERDICT

One of the all-time suspense classics with a terrific twist in the climax. Tense and riveting stuff. 

THE GREATEST TRICK THE DEVIL EVER PULLED WAS CONVINCING THE WORLD HE DIDN'T EXIST AND LIKE THAT HE'S GONE ... 

Before Sunset (2004)

The Plot
Jesse and Celine meet again in Paris 9 yrs after their last meeting in Vienna. Jesse is a published author now and Celine comes for his book reading session. The book is expectedly about their one night encounter 9 yrs back.

Celine lives in Paris and she is a social activist. They start talking about how their lives have changed in these past 9 yrs. They go around Paris walking, sailing in the cruise and Jesse also goes to Celine's home in the end.

Both their current lives aren't exactly rosy and they realize that their one night together had been affecting their lives in myriad ways.

                                                                         
Hits

• Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke continue their magical chemistry and bonding in this movie. Just taking over from where they left off 9 yrs earlier. 


• Some of the scenes for Celine are just magically worked out like the scene in the cruise where she talks about how she can't forget each of her boyfriends and how each of them has a special quality or the scene in the car where she pours her heart out to Jesse about she being bad at relationships and how that one night had drained all the romance out of her. 


• Jesse also has his poignant scene in the car when he says how he has weird dreams about Celine and how he feels close to her even now whereas he feels his wife is like a million miles away from him. 


• The final scene where Celine sings a waltz to Jesse about their one night and Jesse looking on romantically in sheer appreciation is sheer CLASS. The way the scene of Celine dancing fades out in the end is another goose bumps moment. 

VERDICT

The same director-actor-actress trio ups the ante yet again to give a memorable sequel to 'Before Sunrise'. Equally good if not better.

Guide (1965)

The Plot

Raju is a tourist guide who is well versed in many languages and is very popular in his place. Marco and his wife Rosy come to Raju’s town for Marco’s work and Raju is obviously their guide.

Rosy is a dancer born to a Devadasi mother and she is married off to Marco against her wishes. Marco is an old man who doesn’t like her and is always obsessed with his archaeological work. He has a keep as well.

Rosy comes away from him due to all the negligence and ill treatment and comes to Raju’s home. Raju had always cared for Rosy from the start. Due to their daring live-in relationship, the entire village is against them and even Raju’s mom and mama move away from them. But Raju is firm and even wishes to marry Rosy

Raju helps her pursue her dancing dreams under a new name Nalini. She makes it big and Raju also makes a lot of money. But, they don’t marry all along and they just live together. 

Raju becomes greedy for more money and he also doesn’t want Marco to come back to Rosy’s life. Raju does some forgery at a point of time and the law gets him and he is sent to jail for 2 yrs

He comes back but doesn’t go to his village. He instead goes to a new village in a bearded get-up. The innocent villagers think that he is some godman. They treat him very well and respect him like God. This turns against him in the end when he is forced to fast for 12 days for the sake of rain in the village. This takes a toll on his life much to the angst of all his near and dear ones

                                                                          

Hits

• The heroine Waheeda Rahman is amazing. She is so beautiful, talented and dances and emotes like a dream .


• The songs by S.D.Burman are so melodious and have an evergreen quality.


• The set design for the songs is detailed and impressive. Also for the scenes, where Dev Anand talks with his alter-ego, the lighting and the special effects are interesting.


• The theme is much ahead of times and the content is quite daring. The godman scenes are relevant even now.


• Dev Anand has his own energetic and brisk style. Stylish dialog delivery.

VERDICT

The movie is almost like 2 different movies – about a situational godman and about a pair that lives together much against the society’s wishes and comes up in life before the inevitable fall. But the common thread is the life and times of a guide ... 

Before Sunrise (1995)

The Plot

Jesse and Celine meet in a train in Europe and they start conversing with each other naturally. What starts off in the train continues as a full day in Austria, as the 2 get down at the Vienna station and decide to go out with each other.

They have a lot of meaningful and informative conversations and find out that they are the perfect match for each other. They have their first kiss; they make love and basically fall madly for each other by the end of their Vienna sojourn.

They get back to their lives in the end with a pact that they would meet at the same place 6 months later.

                                                                             

Hits

• Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy behave perfectly naturally and they look made for each other. Though Ethan looks girly and tries too hard to impress her at times, he is endearing on the whole. Julie is a total charmer and is likeable to the core.

VERDICT

One of those rare romantic movies that doesn’t look too mushy and melodramatic and just gives an impression of watching 2 passionate lovers. 

SLC Punk! (1998)

The Plot

Stevo and Bob are 2 educated punks in Salt Lake City. They are brilliant lads but they just don’t believe in society and the system. They believe in anarchy i.e. no system and no rules. They are dead against the posers, the rock stars, the rednecks, the mods etc. etc.

They decide to do nothing for a year or so and just go to parties, drink and have some good sex. They have some likeminded buddies like Mike, Mark, Sandy, Trish etc. etc. Bob’s dad is sort of a lunatic whereas Stevo’s parents are divorced. His dad wants him to go to Harvard Law School. Stevo has a thing for Sandy whereas Bob is in love with the much older Trish. 

But in that 1 year a lot of things change and Steve realizes that anarchy has no meaning and no future and that being in the system and screwing it as a lawyer is much better than being out of the system. He also meets his lady love Brandy on a blind date and he loses Bob unfortunately due to a narcotic overdose

                                                                             

Hits

• Matthew Lillard and Michael Goorjian as the 2 punk friends look play and live their parts. Particularly Lillard steals the show. Great emoting particularly in the climax.


• The narrative style of Stevo talking directly to the audience and introducing all his friends in the party by directly talking to the audience is very new, innovative and sort of kick-ass.


• The dialogs are cheeky and they go into a lot of detail explaining certain phenomena in a lively and funny manner.


• The scenes where Stevo realizes that his life is going nowhere and that there is no meaning to his life make a lot of impact. Mathew Lillard does very well in these scenes.

Comments

• The party scenes just go and on and become repetitive. But, in a movie about hep jobless punks, guess this can pass off. 

VERDICT

Another tale of the lead guy coming off age by realizing the meaning of life, the hard way. Told in the backdrop of the punk culture in Salt Lake City, it is a very new experience. 

Trainspotting (1996)

The Plot

It focuses on the addiction to drugs particularly heroin, that a gang of buddies have. It is set in Scotland. Mark Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, Tommy and Begbie are the buddies in focus. Mark and Spud are big time into drugs and they commit a crime for which Spud is sent to prison and Mark is put into continued rehab.

Mark gets out of his addiction with great difficulty overcoming some intense withdrawal trips. Tommy is ditched by his girlfriend and he later contracts a virus through cat shit called toxoplasmosis.  Begbie isn’t into drugs but he is a real jerk who hurts people according to his whims and fancies. Sick Boy loses his baby due to his negligence and he is a pimp.

Mark has a girlfriend Diane who is a school girl. He feels guilty for screwing a schoolgirl. Mark gets back to a normal life post his rehab and he settles in life as a real estate broker. But his jobless junkie mates come back to him with a drug deal in London with some Russians, that fetches them a cool 16000 pounds

In the end Mark ditches Begbie and Sick Boy without any regret and leaves Spud’s share and escapes with the rest of the money to lead a normal materialistic life like other citizens. Begbie is jailed for a previous crime as well and Spud happily takes his share.

                                                                                 

Hits

• Ewan McGregor as Mark literally lives the role of the drugged junkie. Particularly the scenes where he is desperate for a shot, the way he enjoys his trips, the way he is haunted by the withdrawal symptoms  etc. etc. the getup is also very apt for this 'yoyo' type junkie who doesn’t care to live by the rules until the very end.


• Some of the scenes are plain crazy and never seen before. The way Mark dives into the ugliest toilet seat in Scotland to get the heroin that he just excreted and the way the imaginary baby crawls on the ceiling while Mark is withdrawing from drugs. Creepy and utter disdain for normal cinematic norms. Hats off to Danny Boyle.


• Among the other junkies, the guy who comes as Spud has a real weird getup and he acts and behaves like a real drug addict. His interview scene where he is doped and answers all the questions hyper-actively is a riot.


• The soundtrack is pure 'yoyo' and has many dance beats. Particularly for the withdrawal symptoms scene, it is kick-ass.


• The dialogs at the very start and end of the movie about how materialistic most of the population is, and how the same dialogs are used to explain Mark’s change in mindset is a nice directorial touch.

VERDICT

A pioneering movie for the presentation, style and the way drug effects are portrayed. Guy Ritchie must have been inspired by this movie’s style, as all his movies have a similar style to this movie. Cheers to Danny Boyle

Due Date (2010)

The Plot
Peter Highman is supposed to get to LA to be with his wife for their first child's birth. But, he somehow gets mixed up with Ethan Tremblay and his dog, and they end up on the No-Fly list. Now they travel together on a road trip to reach LA. Ethan has to meet up an agent in Hollywood.

They have lot of bumpy adventures like a big accident, getting mixed up with the Mexican border authorities, having marijuana trips, dealing with Ethan's father's ashes that are enclosed in a coffee box, going to the Grand Canyon to free the ashes etc. etc..

Peter is somehow totally irritated by Ethan's nature and open talk. He even tries to leave him behind and drive alone. But, they stick together despite all the bumps and make it on time for the child's birth.

Ethan even removes the umbilical cord of the little baby girl from the mother and he later makes it big on TV while Peter and family look on in delight.

                                                                   
Hits

• Nice pleasant buddy movie with an adventurous road trip thrown in the mix. 


• Some of the jokes cracked by the eternal joker Zach Galifianakis and the reactions of the perennial dude Robert Downey Jr. are a real delight. The masturbation jokes, the moments involving the dad's ashes, the fun at the Mexican border, Ethan's attempts at acting etc. etc. FEEL GOOD TO THE CORE.

VERDICT

Another feel good, pleasant, funny buddy movie from the master of buddy movies Todd Phillips. 

The Bank Job (2008)

The Plot
The MI5  wants to arrest Michael X who is accused of bringing drugs to London. But, Michael X has some photographs showing the princess in a compromising position. He uses these photos which are in a safety locker in the vault at the Lloyds Bank London, as blackmail and thus escapes the jail sentence.

MI5 sends a spy to work with Michael X to find the negatives of these photos and destroy them. Michael X is sort of a champion for the cause of the black population.

So now the MI5 has to remove these photos from the bank and they employ the services of a woman Martine Love who has been caught in a drug case. Martine in turn takes the services of Terry Leather and his assembled gang of 5 more men.

They succeed in getting to the vault no. 118 and also the other vaults and they steal about 4 million pounds worth of stuff and also the said photos and some other shady documents.

The police come to know of this and obviously the media too and now all the big shots who had some shady documents and photos hidden in the broken lockers are now after Terry and gang. It's not just the royal family that has some illicit stuff in the locker.

The illegal dealings of a porno filmmaker with the police and also photos of some authorities with prostitutes, find their way into the catch of Terry and co.

How they manage to free themselves from this multidimensional mess, whether all of them manage to stay alive and whether Michael X and the other tainted authorities are brought under the law, is what the ending reveals.

                                                                   
Hits

• Never a dull moment. Seat edge thrills and tremendous pace in the screenplay. Be it the way the police come to know of the bank job, the way the gang goes about the job assembling men and material, the way the big shots threaten the gang and how the gang retorts back etc. etc. VERY INTERESTING MOVIE
• Jason Statham as Terry leads the pack and is supported ably by the husky and sexy Saffron Burrows. Rest of the supporting cast fits in well too. 

VERDICT

Intriguing and pacy heist movie that is complex and has many characters yet, it is bang on target. 

Classic: Stanley ka Dabba (2011)

The Plot
Stanley is a 4th std kid at Holy Family High School and he is very talented and liked by all his classmates. But, he is from an impoverished background. He never brings his lunch box 'dabba' and his friends are more than willing to share their lunch with him.

His English teacher Rosy is very impressed and she empathizes with him. There are also teachers like Mrs. Iyer who doesn't encourage his brilliant ideas and the grumpy Hindi teacher Babubhai Verma aka 'Khadoos' who always takes food from other children's and teacher's boxes but, berates Stanley for doing the same.

'Khadoos' even goes to the extent of banning Stanley from school unless he brings a lunch box. All the friends are very sad and 'Khadoos' also starts repenting for his lowly behavior. Then one day, Stanley brings a 'dabba' surprisingly and goes and offers it straight to 'Khadoos' who just can't handle the shame now and leaves the school for good.

In the end, Stanley does his school proud at the contest organized by the Theosophical Colony and we also come to know of the real truth behind Stanley in the end. He all along maintains that his mummy is waiting for him and that she cooks for him.

THE ENDING IS TOUCHING AND IS A BIG MOMENT OF REALIZATION FOR ALL OF US
                                                                 
Hits

• Hats off to Amole Gupte the creator for seamlessly blending such a delicate societal issue into a tale that is essentially about the lunch 'dabba' and salutations to the actor Amole Gupte as well. As Khadoos, the way he always grabs food from others' boxes and the way he runs after a student Aman's lunch box is a real delight. And the final act of repenting is top class too. 
• Partho as Stanley leads the credits for the kids lot. He has just behaved like how a kid does in real life. Some other kids that create an impact are the unmatched friend Abhishek and the lunch supplier to the entire class Aman. 
• Divya Dutta as Rosy, the English teacher who empathizes with Stanley and the other kids makes an impact with her humane approach to teaching. 
• Other support characters like Akram, the only man who is there to look after Stanley and the History teacher, Maths teacher are all well etched too. 
• The soundtrack haunts with its melody and meaning. 
• There is a lot of scope to focus on Stanley's orphaned and impoverished background but, the director does so only in the end. This creates maximum impact and does justice to the title which is essentially about Stanley's dabba. The ending validates the title perfectly too. 

VERDICT

The best movie regarding an issue that affects children. That it manages to educate as well as entertain in the backdrop of the lunch 'dabba' warrants endless applause. 

Chillar Party (2011)

The Plot

Chandan Nagar is a colony where there is a gang of small kids called the Chillar Party. Each of these guys has a unique nickname based on their traits like – encyclopedia, akram, silencer, second hand, shaolin, aflatoon etc. etc. These boys love cricket and they hate dogs because they pee on their pitch. They have a rivalry running with the oversized cricket team in their locality.

A new boy Fadka comes to the colony with his dog Bhidu, to clean the cars in the colony. The boys hate Fadka because of his dog and they cause some sadistic trouble initially. But being sweet kids, they realize that it is not right and they befriend Fadka and Bhidu in a big way.

The local minister comes to open a park in their colony and his secretary is barked at, by Bhidu in full media glare because the secretary had insulted Fadka. The minister creates politics out of this and vows to eliminate all the street dogs that don’t have a NOC from the colony.

The inmates of Chandan colony are not very eager about the NOC for the dog but the kids singlehandedly take up the cause of Bhidu and create a big media frenzy by going on a ‘Chaddi’ march to create awareness to save Bhidu. The parents of the kids are now fully behind their kids’ efforts and hard work. The minister then invites the kids for a live TV show for the final decision about Bhidu.

In the TV show, the kids start reeling off their school lessons one by one in an appropriate manner after the initial silence and win over the public and the minister with their sentimental opinions. Bhidu and Fadka remain in the colony and Bhidu even gets a collar belt saying that he is from Chandan colony. 

                                                                       

Hits

• Not once do the kids go overboard and act over smart. They remain kids in their actions, their ideas and their behavior. This is the biggest plus any kids’ movie can have. Each of the kids has literally rocked the role.
• The plot has the fun element, sentiments and tear jerking moments in equal measure. An emotional ride indeed
• The bonding between the parents and the children is also very natural and unique.
• The way politicians look for even small reasons to create a big issue is highlighted nicely.

VERDICT

A great children’s movie that highlights the extent to which kids can go for a cause. The power of young India so to speak. Basically it is a nice bonding movie between kids and their pet dog. ‘For the love of dog’ as the title proclaims. 

Paths of Glory (1957)

The Plot

It’s war time between France and Germany. The French generals want the French army to take over Ant Hill. This is a near impossible task and General Paul forces Colonel Dax to take up this task because Paul is promised an extra star by the higher authorities.Colonel Dax tries to convince the General of the impossibility of the task but, in vain.

As expected, on the first day of the Ant Hill campaign, the French army is demoralized due to the sheer magnitude of the task. General Paul makes immoral demands like instructions to start firing on his own soldiers. There is a lot of loss of life for the French army lead by Colonel Dax.

General Paul’s reputation is badly affected by this and all that he wants is to safeguard his ego and his name. So he orders that 3 soldiers be executed for alleged cowardice in front of the enemy. Privates Paris, Ferol and Arnaud are the unfortunate trio.

Colonel Dax takes up their case in the military court of justice and he tries to convince the higher authorities that this execution is so absurd but again in vain.

In the end, the trio is executed and Colonel Dax exposes the allegations against General Paul. The French army is as usual given orders to carry on with the war against the Germans, and Colonel Dax takes it up like a true war hero.

                                                                            

Hits

• Kirk Douglas is the iron man Colonel Dax who bravely stands for his men and stands against the selfish, egoistic Generals. He wins us over with his firm stand and moral obligations towards his fellow soldiers. The court scene in particular creates a lot of impact and empathy among us. He looks manly and handsome too.
• The others are all support characters and the actors have all done well be it General Paul, Privates Ferol, Paris, Arnaud etc. etc.
• The impact of war on the lives of the poor soldiers is shown in all its brutality. 

VERDICT

Another war movie from the legendary Stanley Kubrick. This one stands out for the atrocities and the selfish attitude of the Generals towards their own countrymen and the total lack of understanding and lack of empathy on their part. 

Exam (2009)

The Plot
8 people, 4 men and 4 women, from varied backgrounds are selected to appear for a final examination that would determine who gets selected to a post in a very powerful and mysterious organization, which is into bio-tech.

Each of them has a blank paper before them and the invigilator spells out some rules that they need to follow and also tells that they need to answer a single question. They have 80 mins to answer that single question.

The 8 people figure out ways to find the question using light, lead, liquid etc. but in vain. Some people are also eliminated by the evil intentions of the others in the room. They get desperate as time wears out and use immoral procedures too.

Finally, who is selected, what is that question, what is that answer and who is the CEO are the suspense elements.

                                                                           
Hits

• Different concept that has thrill, mystery and the unknown quotient running through it. 
• Among the 8, it is Brown and White who take the lead with their aggressive and sometimes immoral approach to finding the question. Luke Mably and Jimi Mistry play White and Brown respectively. 

VERDICT

As with such films that have a suspense twist in the end, this one also has a suspense element that is partly interesting and partly silly. One time watch. 

Murder 2 (2011)

The Plot
Set in Goa, 'Dirty Harry' style x-cop, Arjun Bhagwat has to investigate the disappearance of many call girls belonging to one particular pimp. He finds that a psycho dressed as a woman Dheeraj Pandey is behind these kidnappings and subsequent brutal murders. Pandey loathes woman and he mixes with transgenders and he even sacrifices his penis to the transgender God.

Arjun gets to Dheeraj quite soon and then it is all about the subsequent search for one particular girl Reshma. Whether Reshma is saved and how does Dheeraj meet his end is the climax. Arjun also has a thing for Priya, an ultra sexy model for calendar shoots. They unite in the end after Arjun finally decides to get committed to one woman.

                                                                             

Hits

• Shaggy looking Emraan Hashmi is impressive when he is aggressive
• Ultra sexy Jacqueline Fernandez sizzles and her love making scenes and smooches with the serial kisser send temperatures soaring. Daring and bold dressing.
• The songs are terrific and most of them are shot as montages. Yana Gupta sizzles in the 'Aa Zara' title track. 'Haale Dil' is another smoking hot number. 
• The villain Prashant Narayanan is a real find. He is scary, mean and very convincing as the effeminate villain who tortures every woman. His feminine avatar is quite scary. 

Comments

• The tape recording of the females screaming their lungs out is quite depressing and haunting. The torture that Reshma is subjected to, might put off many. The scene where she wets herself just before her death is too pitiable. 

VERDICT

Decent thriller that could have had more suspense. Not very convincing but as a package of sex, violence and some thrills - Murder 2 works ...  

Classic: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

The Plot

Sonny and Sol plan to rob a bank in downtown Brooklyn in broad daylight. They just plan to sneak in some cash and get out of the scene quietly. But, there is no cash in the lockers and a major police battalion lands outside the bank very soon.

What follows are a series of negotiations between the police and Sonny. Sonny wants a jet, a limousine and a helicopter to get out of the country. He also wants to speak to his wife and his gay lover Leon. Sonny plans this robbery to fund Leon’s sex change operation.

Sonny has to handle the emotional torture that he is subjected to by his wife, mother and Leon. He also has to keep the hostages i.e. the bank employees from panicking.

What happens to Sonny’s plan to escape from the country in the jet and what happens to his partner and the hostages is the culmination. This is a true life incident that happened in October 1972.

                                                                          

Hits

• Al Pacino’s best performance in his early days. He looks freaking handsome and the intensity, the emotional instability and the fire in his belly make Sonny, one of his best characters till date. His ‘Remember Attica’ chants and the way he wins over the watching public is terrific.
• The way the camera follows Al as he shouts ‘Attica’ and when he throws money to the public, particularly the aerial helicopter shots, is darn impressive.
• The raw intensity and energy of the streets has been captured very well.
• The bonding between the female bank hostages and Sonny and Sal is quite different and not the norm generally seen in such robbery films.
• The way the public is fascinated by the media and their joy at being the center of focus, has been brought out very well.  Particularly, the lady employee’s joy at being interviewed and the pizza guy’s reactions after delivering pizza to Sonny.
• How the public gets influenced so easily is another side track of this movie. The way Sonny wins over the pro-gay crowd and antagonizes the anti-gay crowd just because of his decision to support his gay wife Leon, is a case in point.
• John Cazale as Sal looks grim and serious throughout the movie and Charles Durning as police officer Moretti matches Al Pac with his aggression and intensity while he negotiates with him

VERDICT

A great true life incident brought out on screen thanks to Al Pacino’s glorious energy, innocent yet handsome looks and endearing charisma. Kudos to the legendary late Sidney Lumet for this effort. 

Classic: Scent of a Woman (1992)

The Plot

Charlie Simms takes up a weekend job to be Colonel Frank Slade’s aide for the Thanksgiving weekend. He takes time to warm up to the real nature of the Colonel. The Colonel also starts taking a liking for Simms gradually and takes him along to New York City for an adventurous couple of days that includes staying in a gorgeous hotel, some great food, never ending booze, beautiful ladies and a Ferrari car ride. The Colonel plans to blow himself out at the end of these couple of days because he has no support from his family and he feels lonely. But Simms talks him out of this and convinces him to fight on in life.

Simms also has a problem in his school as he is witness to a notorious act of vandalism by a group of rich brats. Just when his future is about to be brushed off by the disciplinary committee of the Baird school, Colonel Slade steps in as his guardian and delivers a knockout speech that salvages young Simms’ life. The Colonel starts feeling full of life and looks forward to spending time with his grand kids in the end as Simms looks on in glee. 

                                                                         

Hits

• Al Pacino’s Oscar winning show. Such a different portrayal of the blind man. No exaggerated expressions to prove that he is blind. But, his aggressive voice that mouths expressions like “Whoo ha”, “Ha” and dialogs like “I am just getting warmed up”, “I am feeling super, superior, superfluous” stay with us. The scene where he attempts to shoot himself, the scene where he describes the woman’s body, the climax committee scene, the way he dances a tango with a young girl Donna, the way he eats paper etc. etc. are moments that prove Al Pac’s powerhouse talent. 
• Chris O'Donnell as Charlie Simms, the young, decent Baird student who never loses his temper and is so calm and collected is the perfect foil to the aggressive and lively Al Pac. The intense emotional scene where he convinces Colonel Slade to live on and not kill himself and the way he abuses him as a “blind motherfucker” is one rare moment when he loses his composure. 
• Thomas Newman’s music is mild and soothing. Perfect for such a humane drama. 
• Philip Seymour Hoffman as one of the students George proves his childishness and restlessness in the final committee scene. 

VERDICT

A different sort of male bonding movie that moves at a leisurely pace. But, Al Pacino’s out of the world performance is worth a look-in, any number of times. 

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

The plot

A famous journalist Jean Dominique Bauby aka Jean Do, working in Elle magazine is suddenly paralyzed head to toe. Only his left eye and his hearing abilities work, physically speaking. But he can think, visualize, understand etc. etc.

He is trained by a speech therapist, a movement specialist. The speech training techniques using just the blink of the eye as response and all the frequently used French alphabets is highly innovative. It comes throughout the movie and literally becomes our habit too.

He is also helped in realizing his dream of writing a book called “The diving bell and the butterfly” by a willing volunteer who also uses the above mentioned technique.

Jean Do is also visited by his adoring wife and 3 kids and they help him relive some good moments. He also has an affair going on. All these scenes play back in his mind. His relationship with his father also haunts him constantly. The phone call with his father is one emotional roller–coaster.

After realizing his dream of finishing the book, Jean Do’s health deteriorates and the inevitable happens. 

                                                                     

Hits

• The point of view shots through the eyes of Jean Do at the start of the movie, introduce us to his world, his pain, his feelings, his sorrow and his plight. Very innovative camera work during the scenes where he blinks his eyes to convey Yes or No
• The way Jean Do narrates his inner feelings as a voice-over makes us involved in the movie rather than just watch his agony and pity him. The point when we realize that he can’t speak and that the voice over is just his feelings and not his actual speech, is quite shocking.
• The 2 therapists, the wife and the volunteer are the very attractive female elements of the movie. Extreme close-ups of their flawless body and face serve as a welcome distraction from the intense heavy content of the movie. All the 4 females embody the goodness of humanity and the spirit of service. 
• The paternal bonding shown in the movie is very touching, be it between Jean Do and his kids and or between Jean Do and his Dad

Misses

• In the entire movie, Jean Do's right eye is stitched and sealed shut. But, in one scene, his left eye is sealed shut. This is a major blooper in an otherwise perfect art-house film

VERDICT

Very serious movie that gets depressing at times due to the highly involving nature of the movie making. An attempt worth appreciating.  

Shaitan (2011)

The plot

Amrita Jaishankar aka Amy has a very trouble teenage life due to the death of her mother. She constantly thinks of her mother and she believes that her mother Saira is still alive. She doesn’t mix with her father and her step mom. She is basically very depressed.

Then she meets Karan Chopra aka KC at a party and she is introduced to a new gang of junky friends Zubin, Dash and Tanya. Amy joins this gang and bonds big time because she feels new. This gang goes about the town drowned in drugs and booze and cause a major accident where 2 are killed on the spot.

The investigating policeman Malwankar is after them for money to protect their identity from coming out. They plan a kidnapping drama where Amy would be kidnapped by her friends and her father would be asked for the ransom money which would be used to pay off the policeman. Dash is the planner and he gets this plan from Shomu who had planned a similar drama to perfection.

But this drama goes haywire as more deaths and a major media frenzy is created by the disappearance of the gang. Arvind Mathur is given charge of this case. He is an aggressive go-getter who has his own rules and is a real terror. He has a troubled family life with his wife.

Through his network, he gets to know of the truth. What happens to the gang of 5, who dies, who is alive at the end of the day, what happens to Arvind’s family life and what happens to the policeman Malwankar who is the actual root cause of the kidnapping drama, is what the ending is about. There is also a track involving a drug case with a German girl and 2 Kenyan drugsters.  

                                                                        

Hits

• The plot is stunning. Totally raw and highly impactful. Hollywood in style and execution
• Rajeev Khandelwal as the aggressive cop is terrific. The stubble, his handsome fit looks and the powerful eyes are a real treat. His intro scene will make any superstar jealous. 
• The gang of 5 have all done well be it Kalki Koechlin, Shiv Pandit or the guys who play KC, Zubin and Tanya. Very natural and highly talented. Life like performances
• The sound track goes along with the movie and is sort of cult like. Koya Koya Chand and Josh Junoon in particular are quite mesmerizing. 
• The cinematography and editing are top notch. Particularly the car accident scene and the way the reactions of the 5 are portrayed in the aftermath. Highly graphic images but brilliant nevertheless
• Some of the scenes are hard to stomach and very raw like the accident scene, Amy’s dope trips where she scratches herself, the rape attempt on Tanya, the mind-blowing shooting sequence between the Kenyans and the cops using the dead body of the German girl as protection. 

VERDICT

Indian cinema’s new age face. Lot of disturbing scenes but, that’s how Indian cinema should be in the future. Hats off to Bejoy Nambiar and Anurag Kashyap for this absolutely brilliant MUST WATCH film.

Tanu weds Manu (2011)

The Plot

Manish Sharma aka Manu returns to India from London to get married according to his parents wish. He is arranged to meet Tanuja Trivedi aka Tanu in Kanpur on a marriage alliance. But Tanu turns out to be a brat who changes boyfriends frequently and she is currently in love with a railway contractor. But, Manu falls madly in love with her. Yet, he being such a simple and decent man lets go off Tanu.

But he encounters Tanu again in his friend Jassi’s marriage with Payal, who is Tanu’s friend. There, the fire is rekindled. Manu’s loyal aide Pappi, his friend Jassi and Payal are all in favor of Tanu marrying Manu. But Tanu takes a long time to realize this and there is also a suspense regarding who her lover is. Raja is the guy and they plan to elope and get married and Manu also helps in getting their marriage approved by their family too.

But, in the end Tanu realizes all the sacrifices and the pure love that Manu has for her and decides to get married to Manu. After a major scene created by Raja on the wedding night, Tanu weds Manu. 

                                                                     

Hits

• All the support characters Pappi, Jassi, Payak and Raja do a great job. They are the major plus points of the movie. Jimmy Shergill does aggressive characters very well.
• The music and the songs are all peppy and melodious.

Comments

• Maddy is overweight and looks plump. He underplays in the entire movie and the one scene where he bares his heart to Tanu is impressive. He needs to watch his weight but for this role of the decent middle aged London returned Indian, he is perfect.
• Kangana Ranaut is heavily made up but is cute nevertheless and does her part well, as always. She is perfect for such brat roles

VERDICT

Though the movie is just under 2 hrs duration, it drags to the finish line. Not much going for this movie but, it will appeal to the families as proved by the super hit status of the movie.