Sanket’s Review: “Happy New year” entertains and how!

Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Boman Irani, ABhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Vivaan shah, Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood.

Director: Farah Khan

Length: 3hrs

In today’s date, when most films feel dragged and overdone if it goes above two and half hours, it must have been quite a task to believe that this film will engross the audience for three hours. Well, the director ensured that she won’t really let the film to slow down which shows in the screenplay. There are long emotional scenes at places but the director peppers up the film by immediately adding some fast-paced scenes after those emotional scenes. Thankfully, neither emotional scenes drown nor does the comedy falls flat. But yes the comedy is slapstick and pronounced may not bring the house down each time.

The film starts with a bang. The swaggering entry for the lead hero of the film boosts up the energy. Although its just a “entry scene” and nothing more, but one does enjoy it especially when Shahrukh refers to his own films by using the dialogues and tweaking them. But the film lags only initially when one after other character is developed. The introduction parts of all the other guys in the film takes too much time and it doesn’t help that the film has already spent 40 minutes without really having kick-started with the original theme of the film. One enjoys the bits of comedy like the whole part where these boys try to learn foreign dances or even the famous Chak De India dialogue that our female protagonist gives a funny angle to. So far so good.

The second half of the film is one of the longest second halves ever going for around 100 minutes but Farah manages to engage with a tight screenplay especially during the heist scene, which is spoon-fed a lot, but done humorously. Take this- during the intense heist scene, after a small victory, SRK revelling in glory asks Boman “Will you marry me?” Such bits and spurts of comical angle and some over the top, yet thoroughly enjoyable patriotism makes HAPPY NEW YEAR a roller coaster ride.

The film captures Dubai in beautiful ways. The screen was filled with colors and grandeur. Look at the bar dance song “Lovely” which looks royal, thanks to crores of money spent on sets and costumes. The music of the film nicely mixes up with the theme and Khan’s choreography is laudable. The dialogues are mostly usual, but the ones borrowed from SrK’s earlier films makes maximum impact.

Shahrukh Khan manages to hold up the show. He pulls off the emotional scenes with panache, which is rare now days from this actor. Deepika Padukone manages to do some good comedy in a restricted role. Abhishek Bachchan has good amount of energy and he carries the over the top comedy to the perfection. Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah hardly gets any major scene to display their potential. Boman Irani is endearing once again in a very sweet role.

The film in the end, turns out to be a overwhelming surprise and if the film is seen for what it is, then you’ll come out on a satisfying note. The exotic locales, terrific scenes, some manifested patriotism especially in the “Satakli” song which is one of the highpoints of the film and nice blend of comedy and drama turns HAPPY NEW YEAR into a wholesome entertainment. It entertains and how!

Rating – 3.5/5

Sanket's BANG BANG review: Its not unwatchable, but its easily forgettable.

Cast: Hrritik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Danny denzongpa

Director: Siddarth Anand

Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins

There’s a scene in the film where Katrina asks? “Plan kya hain” to which Hritik replies “pata nai”. If we ask the same question to makers of this film as to what’s really the crux of the film, the answer wouldn’t be much different. When you have a leading couple like Hritik and Katrina, who look as glamorous as they could with elegance written all over their clothes and accessories, it must really take a screenplay as botched up as what we have in BANG BANG to restrict the exciting quotient of the film. If you think action scenes are worth watching, you aren’t wrong, but what you have to go through in between one action scene to other is something that you didn’t buy into.

So the film really lack any sense of logic, which frankly I am not much bothered about in films like these, but the conviction factor is in the air. Its sad to see a screenplay, which surely must not be more than 5 pages long, written for mundane justifications just to make sure our actors move from Shimla’s snowing weather to Prague’s exotic wallpaper beauty. Although the humor that sparks in between the couple intermittently do give a sense of refreshment from a tiring narration that relies only on its lead couple and its action. The film feels dragged at one point when you want to throw to really ask, why is Hritik fighting, really? Well we do get answered for that question, but are we satisfied with the answer? Certainly, No!

The film constantly revolves around some eye-pleasing natural places that gives the film a rich view and the cinematography is worth applauding! Vishal-Shekar’s music is peppy although one does feel the needlessness of songs. “Tu meri”, “Meherbaan” and “Bang bang” are choreographed with enough sensuality in it to allure you.

 But one cannot talk about BANG BANG and not mention the action parts of the film. The action scenes are enthralling and they keep you glued to your seats making you bite your nail. The chase scene in the beginning is par excellence. Also it suits someone like Hritik whose style and energy never dries even if the film does. The aqua-action has the newness and the background score staples to the mood of action, also the car chases are extremely engaging, and the building-to-building jumps looks super-stuff, thanks to very nuances and smartness with which they have been done.

The film belongs to Hritik primarily. He has nice sense of humor and he displays in his character effectively. There’s swagger, anger, fun and charm in his performance and he nails it. Katrina Kaif is still meddling with her distracting diction although she is fun when she is not displaying any strong emotional side of her. Rest no one really has enough role to talk about.

In the end, BANG BANG disappoints and how! Wish the director didn’t really take a nap in our leading couple’s arm and rather made something more concrete and convincing film even with a dumbed up written material. If you aren’t thinking highly of this film anyway, watch it for some really cool action, some cool songs and dance moves, the sexy personalities on screen, and the leading man who never really fails even if the film does. But if you are expecting something that will entice you every second, just buy a DVD when it comes out and watch it and be less disappointed.

Rating- 2/5 

Review: “Haider” leaves you intrigued.

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Kay Kay Menon, Tabu, Irrfan Khan.

Director: Vishal Bharadwaj

Length: 2hrs and 42 minutes

One has to get it at very onset that “Haider” has too many subtexts to its story. Even if it is a revenge story, there’s lot more to it that just that. The film staged in Kashmir’s political and tense backdrop has no good or bad people- it has grey people. Mingled with plot twists and terrific ideas wrapped under the genre of drama and thriller, Haider delivers on all fronts.

The film has too many characters and it becomes essential that the story gives depth to each of them to put the story ahead. So in first hour the screenplay is brisk and the occurrences are too well handled. Note the Irrfan Khan portion just before intermission. Even if its just an introduction and brief scene, you know that some big surprise is around the corner. One gets so enthralled and eager that he/she may want to skip the interval break.

Post-intermission too the film holds its own and the violent portions are commendably taken care of. The scenes give gooseflesh and the story is moving coherently. But the sudden swing in our protagonist, played by Shahid Kapoor, does draw some uneasiness. Also the romantic song, placed in beautiful locales, abrupt the story. And the overlong Bismil song, using the “Karzz” movie trick (you will know when and if you see the film) falls off the track. But the film never drowns entirely. The film ends on astounding note and transcends a strong philosophy that will remain with you for a long, long time. The climax will leave you with lot of questions to be solved for yourself.

Kashmir is used to its complete potential. Even the usual colonies are shot aesthetically, giving the film an authenticity mark. The music doesn’t really impact the narration because it lacks zing of songs like Bhardwaj's own “Daarllingg” or “Charlie” or “raat Ke dhai baje”. Even his love songs in HAIDER are too dry to evoke any feeling. But the one-minute of “Aao na” played during some zany men finding a place for themselves in grave leaves a lasting impact. The screenplay is prominent and some scenes are terrific- like the intermission point, or the last 10 minutes or even the scene where Shahid explains chutzpah.

The biggest plus for HAIDER is the mother-son duo. Tabu gives a very nice mix of vulnerability and confidence and she shines throughout as the helpless mother. Shahid Kapoor is in terrific form and he seem to have retrieved his KAMINEY zeal in his acting. Note the sfirst scene when he goes bald. His facial expressions and his dialogue delivery hit the nail. Shraddha Kapoor invests sincerity and underplays her part very well. Kay Kay Menon is mostly good but in initial scenes his performance is rather weak. Irrfan Khan transmits too much through his eyes without saying too much. But one wonders what happens to Kulbhushan Kharbanda who gives n exemplary two-minute cameo?

In the end, even if the film feels stretched in the songs in second half, HAIDER still manages to hook you throughout inspite of slow pacing. The story speaks volume and Bhardwaj skilfully extracts terrific performances from his two aces- Tabu and Shahid Kapoor. After dismals like “7 Khoon Maaf” and “Matru Ki Bijlee ka Mandola”, Bhardwaj is back to his realm with HAIDER. A film that may not be unforgettable, but a film that’s not easily forgettable.

Rating- 3.5/5 

Sanket’s review: “Daawat-e-Ishq” has unusual charm.

Cast: Parineeti Chopra, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Anupam Kher.

Director: Habib Faisal

Length: 2hr and 3 mins

There is always something more than what you have in your mind while watching a Habib Faisal film. His “Do Dooni Char” sprung nice surprise and then his “Ishaqzaade” that turned out to be even better surprise in terms of writing, direction and acting. DAAWAT-E-ISHQ, his third outing takes you by surprise in other way. If you though it was all mush romance and simple comedy, which was easily presumed from the promos, you’re at mistake. This film is more of drama, a con-drama and little bit of comedy.

The film starts on freshening note. We have a middle class father-daughter facing dowry issues and they both have conflict of philosophies among themselves. The story is linear and goes off extremely well without any subplots anywhere. Infact the film coasts along breezily for first hour. There are few laughs and nice drama all around.

But it falls considerably in second half especially when the film is trying to cook romance. The film is so much into its original plot that we want the film to fasten its romantic plot so that it can come back to where it started. The love story feels unreal because of abruptness and dicey writing. But the film picks up once the film leaves aside whole romance portion.

The songs don’t really take the film ahead. In-fact, only the title song is there with you thanks to nice presentation of the food items. Watch out for some exclusive focussed shots on food items. Anyways, the film captures Hyderabad and Lucknow in usual way and giving it nice authentic factor. Faisal wrote a simple film but handled it with utmost care and without letting the film going wrong way.

The film covers most of its lapses thanks to its terrific leading lady. Parineeti shows yet again how effective she can get when she is in her comfort zone. Yes, one might argue she is playing the roles of same context repeatedly, but she lends enough fire in her role. Aditya Roy kapoor, who is more like a character of the film than the lead hero, gets the accent bang on but cannot really exploit his strengths due to limited presence. Anupam Kher then plays or rather, underplays his part with zeal and brings the connective angle with ease.

At the end, it’s a film that may not hook you throughout, like Habib’s earlier works, but has got its own charm intact. Yes, the plot meanders in second half, but for most of the parts, it’s a nice satisfying watch.

Rating- 3/5

Sanket’s Review: “Finding Fanny” is a brave attempt, but that’s that about the film.

Cast: Deepika Padukone, Pankaj Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Arjun Kapoor

Director: Homi Adajania

Length: 1 hr and 45 minutes

Adajania has distinct pattern of executing his movies. If “Being Cyrus” was anyway a different film, “Cocktail” had its own shade even in most overdone script. “Finding Fanny” is a tale which has quirk and wit written all over but it misses the much required heart.

So Adajania has to give brief narration of each of four characters in the film. They all have their own problems and in later part of the film they lead towards one common problem. Adajania’s characters are so diligently handled, it takes hardly a minute to fall in their world. But their problems are too complicated although identifiable at couple of places. But what fails Adajania’s vision is an attempt to make it different and funny. The vision is admirable and brave, but the execution has its own restraints.

The film drops immensely post-intermission and the laughs dry out here after a decent first half. But the mission on which these all are set for loses the purpose immediately as they go for saddled love track between Arjun and deepika. Not that everything is bad. There are few tricky scenes handled with Adjania’s distinction of direction – like the one where Arjun kapoor lashes on Kapadia. It’s a simple scene but the emotions are transpired well across. But alas, moments like these are few and far between. The film has absurd climax to say the least. It never really gives the correct vibe. Agreed, that the film has many layers toppling up and the audience has to decipher each of them to get the whole essence, but had it been done more effectively, it would have come across nicely.

Padukone does her part with proper amount subtlety and holds her own in front of the veterans. Pankaj Kapoor in zaniest avatar gets some of the funniest bits in the film and he does it like it’s a cakewalk. Naseeruddin Shah has a very goofed up part but he has his own persona which is adorable and gives nice sketch of his role. Kapadia is simply charming even if she plays role of a lady which is like your society’s irritating lady. Arjun Kapoor nails it and its surprising to see him playing such soft character without missing the beat.

But sadly, despite likeable performances and some commendable scenes, “Finding Fanny” ends up being an average affair which tried hard and had the audacity to bring such kind of story to screen, but couldn’t justify it entirely. Watch it only if you do know what you’re heading for! Its not your easy comic-thriller.

Rating- 2/5

Sanket’s Review: “Mary Kom” is promising one-time watch.

Length: 124 minutes approximately

Director: Omung Kumar

Star Cast: Priyanka Chopra.

Indian biopics have always had the distinction of making them as mixed up as possible. The ‘masala’ factor is something that drives most of the films made in the country. In “Mary Kom”, an entertaining drama film, the audience is so much hooked up to its climax, utilizing cinematic liberties unapologetically, that the film finishes on a good note despite erroneous handling of situations in some parts of the film.

The film starts with flashbacks and nicely switches on to present although the use of flashback never felt required. So, without investing much time in childhood portions, which most of the film in this genre tend to fall far, “Mary Kom” transports immediately to this lady who is uncontrollably waiting to box and is willing to convince her parents. The problem in the film is its too linear at times and the depths of emotions are pretty flat for audience. The initial boxing games happen in such quick spans that its like you-blink-you-miss. For a film that’s accounting of India’s sportswoman, the major light of the fight should have been the boxing games rather than only dramatic twists in the film. Although, the surprising cheeky humour in the film nicely fits into conversations and it gives the character strong textural values. The virago-esque nature of Mary comes across with ease.

The film shifts its tone nicely post-intermission and picks a flight. The proceedings feel brisk and equally engaging. The scene where Mary ties her two kids back is one of the highpoints of the film and is added with smart back-up dialogue for the scene. The intensity in the film does feel real at portions, especially the training ones. The climax, as discussed earlier, is supremely entertaining despite the fact that writer has manipulatively interwoven two dramatic portions, including the final box game, just to add to the drama. That climax reminds you of “Fashion”.

The writing has lots of fictions which is evident from the way they are handled in the film. Although the points have to be given for some sharp dialogues that sometimes change the momentum at many places. The songs are not really breaking the pace of the film because all arrives at some significant point in the film and are effectively used to push the story ahead.

Priyanka Chopra emerges life of the film. Although facially its hard to digest her as a Manipuri girl, but her language and her posture brings immense authenticity to the film. She’s so much with energy and subtlety that its hard to not take her seriously. Also she kills it when it comes to pre-climax banter with federation member, although that is the “Chak de India” moment of the film.

Rest all actors do get to do their bit well. Mary’s coach is excellent in his few little scenes although there are not many dialogues for him to mouth.

A little more real and ingenious writing and some more in-depth detailing would have done accurate justice to innumerable victories of our real life Mary Kom. Yet, for what the film is, it’s a really well made film and there are strong efforts to bring in the Manipur flavour, which seldom any film has done as effectively as this one does. Priyanka Chopra displays fantastic amount of talent and energy and infuses life in each scene. Although the story settles in place more easily than what it happened in real life, and thus lack of real feel of the film, but the final boxing game, Mary’s cheerfulness and non-relinquishing nature does put the film in right spot. Not a film that you’ll remember after 5-6 years down the line, yet, a promising one-time watch.

Rating- 3/5

“First Day First Show” phenomena- Thanks to UFO MOVIEZ

There’s a movie bug in everyone of us and everyone wants to relish this cinematic form of entertainment. The eagerness to watch the film on big screen, as early as possible, is something that the team of UFO Moviez realized and converted it into a mainstream business.

Without going into historic details, which can be easily accessed from web, let me get into the point.

Conventional and Traditional way of movie releasing in India i.e before the 2000s, A film never used to get released in all parts of the country like it does today. Few decades back, a film used to release in just One theatre throughout the country. Yes, just one theatre! And then after a week or two the film used to release in some other theaters and then in some cities and then B centers and C centers and after couple of months in the villages. That’s basically why back in time, a film used to run for months and months.

Why such scattered release? It is The producers and distributors of particular film used to find it very expensive to generate one analogue print, which is also called “reel”. The costs of one analogue print today could come towards 60,000-70,000 INR. So because to cut down the costs, the producers used to generate very few prints like these and then used to shuffle one print within the same city so that as many theaters in that city can use it for showing movie.

But Indian Film Industry is expanding inevitably, despite the advent of piracy. The content has increased and there are many films that release. But because of the inadequacy of prints, especially for small budget films, there was lot of time mismanagement. And there comes UFO moviez.

UFO moviez, an Indian based company, invented a technology where films can reach movie theaters via satellite and hence the whole role of creating analogue prints is chucked in the process.

To give it in detail, UFO moviez themselves invested in over 3600 cinemas to get them digitized so that these cinemas can show movies on first day itself.

SO, How does it functions? First, a movie is made in a very highly encrypted form which is of around 3000-4000GB which cannot be sent through Satellite because Satellite space is expensive. So first the film is compressed with DCI technology and makes the film of 150-180GB. Then there’s further compression of this film with help of a technology with help of which the film is compressed to 60-80GB which is MPPEG2 format. And then the last stage of compression with help of which the final compressed file is of 8-10GB in MPEG4 format. The major multiplexes where ticket rates are high and also some premium single screens are equipped with projectors that accepts DCI projectors which are expensive. Rest all go with MPEG versions which are rather inexpensive. 

Now This 8-10GB file is sent via satellite to movie theatres and they are downloaded in Hard Disk. But the theatre owners (called as exhibitors) cannot open that file because this file is heavily encrypted with a lock. UFO gives the “Lock-in” code to movie theaters just one day before actual day of release so that there is no illegal screenings conducted by movie theaters.

Sources of revenues for UFO?

UFO invented “Pay-per-show” model which means that the exhibitors have to pay 360 INR each show that they conduct. That 360 is Fixed price. The remaining figure depends upon how much collections the film did and depending upon that there’s some share of it for UFO. So this is the variable source of revenue which depends on how much the film has made money.

So that was it. UFO is across 1350 places and in over 3600 cinemas. It has helped the Film Industry to allocate space for so many films that are releasing.