The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

In the second installment of The Hobbit trilogy, which is prequel to the LOTR, the Dwarves along with Bilbo Baggins and wizard Gandalf, the Grey continue their journey to win back their fallen Homeland from the fiery , fire breathing Dragon. The journey is indeed a swift one and it has all the ingredients that made LORT  an all time classic. There are the familiar orks, the Elves,  the 'precious' Ring, the spells; everything except for Gollum. The action sequences are again on familiar lines, but do we ever get bored of classics?  The sets and locations are incredible and  feast to eyes.

A LOTR and/or Peter Jackson fan cannot afford to miss this flick. It sets the stage for the Grand Finale.

My Rating : 4/5

RamLeela : Pure, Passionate and Intense Love of Star Crossed Lovers

RamLeela isn't Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet; neither it's like any other earlier Bollywood adaptions of Shakespeare's greatest tragedy. It has been said to be based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and closely follows it's trail in the first half ; but the post interval part deviates a lot from the original drama. This deviation is one of the various factors which make this film a special one. Just like few other earlier ventures of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the film has been majestically shot and beautifully blends the colors of Gujarat with the numerous folk songs.The visuals in every frame have been magically stunning. The chemistry between the lead actors is  quite sensuous and has been wonderfully and aesthetically portrayed.Undoubtedly, one of the most intense one in recent times. 

As one can guess, it's the age old story of a boy and a girl from violent rival clans who madly fall in love with each other . But all the odds are against their union and their passionate love would burn the world to ashes.

Even though certain scenes are too dramatic and few songs (eg. Ishquia Dishquia ) seem to be forced into, Bhansali has been quite successful in adapting the story of Star Crossed Lovers from Fair Verona to a grand desi canvas.  Apart from terrific lead actors, Supriya Pathak and Richa Chaddha's work need special mention. Priyanka Chopra's hour-glass figure in the item number would bring any man to his knees.

My Rating : 3.5/5

Krrish3 Review

The entire first half you keep on wondering , which is the worst aspect of the film : Story, Screenplay, Special Effects or the Background Score. However , some reprieve is provided in the second half where story moves at a fairly good pace and where the action sequences, even though 'inspired' from various Hollywood flicks , are not bad.

The story of Krrish3 takes off from where it's earlier installment had ended. Superhero Krrish ,disguised as Krishna  , is happily settled with his family which comprises of his wife Priya Mehra (Priyanka Chopra) and genius father Rohit Mehra. Hritik has convincingly played both the roles of  father and son and at no point you get the feeling that the same actor is playing both the characters. Rohit works at a laboratory while Krrish is busy saving the Mumbai city from goons and disasters.  Then, as customary with superhero flicks, there is a supervillain kaal (Vivek Oberoi) , who with his army of mutants (Maanvars) dreams of eradicating 'inferior' human race. And the onus of saving the world lies on our Superhero.

The performance of all the actors, particularly Hritik has been good.  Both Kangana (as mutant Maya) and Vikek Oberoi have done well. But the various elements of the story and the action sequences have been directly copied from several Hollywood movies : X-men, Superman Returns, Man of Steel, Avengers etc. At times, you even start relating things with Doordarshan's Shaktiman. The special effects may be good as per Bollywood's standard ,but they are not up to the mark.  The music is a big let-down. "Raghupati Ragav" song can easily be the contender for the worst lyrics ever.

My Rating : 2.5/5

Shuddh Desi Romance : More Desi than Shuddh.

Shuddh Desi Romance is a take on Love, Live-in and Marriage; combined with the elements of timely comic punches. The film is set up against the picturesque backdrop of the Pink city Jaipur. This is no way a great film , but will not disappoint you if you would have ever liked to explore the live-in relationship and of-course if on-screen smooches do not offend you, as both the gorgeous leading ladies have generously exchanged plenty of them with the lucky guy Shushant!!

           

Raghu Ram Sita Ram (Shushant Singh Rajput) is a Jaipur based tourist guide who is set to get married (arranged marriage)  to Tara (Vani Kapoor). But he isn't sure whether he is ready to make the lifelong commitment called marriage. On his way to the bride's house in baraat bus, he befriends a modern day independent girl, Gayatri (Parineeti) , who has been hired to act as his sister. His confusion is further fueled after exchanging a couple of smooches with Gayatri. Finally he runs away from his own marriage. Later he convinces Gayatri to make him her live-in partner. Though when asked upon, they don't hesitate to call each other as brother and sister! They start to believe that they are in love each other . But are they ready to make a supposedly unbreakable commitment ? Meanwhile an accidental encounter with (now ultra-glamorous)Tara, brings her back into Raghu's life and adds to (already confused) Raghu's dilemma.

The film tries to depict the thoughts of present day youth on marriage. Is it really an important institution, or an end to one's independence for the sake of society? Why does one need to get married? What if you get all the marriage benefits without losing your freedom? How difficult is it to commit yourself for lifetime? 

All the actors have played their parts quite well. The ease with which newcomer Vani delivers her dialogues is quire remarkable. Comedy scenes really make you laugh. Although, at times the film seems to be somewhat unrealistic , it entertains you thoroughly. It's worth a watch.

Verdict : 3.5/5

Lost

"I am lost,
Lost in darkness,while chasing the Light
Light assumed to be the vivid radiance of felicity,
were the glittering gateway to the misery;
tricking you into the land of obscurity.
Promising you with the elixir of life,
but striking with  no-ordinary knife,
knife poisoned with hatred and acrimony,
pushing you into the endless pit of agony
devoiding of any life,
yet rendering you alive."

Madras Cafe : A Must Watch

                                               

If you committed the sin of watching Chennai Express, this is your  chance of redemption. Madras Cafe ,till date, is the best Indian film which gives an account of a political incident that has forever changed the history of a nation and grossly impacted the other. Shoojit Sircar has impressed for the third time in a row. He has taken the Indian Cinema to an entirely new territory where nobody else had dared to venture before, at least not in such details. Making a political thriller in India is a completely different ball game than in west, as here the filmmaker has to face politically motivated protests in one or the other part of the country. Full credits goes to the director Sircar and the producer John Abraham.

Film deals with ethnic clashes which has ravaged the island nation of Sri Lanka over last three decades and New Delhi's efforts in 80s to bring about a peaceful political solution to the crisis. However, the tactics of the Indian Prime Minister go wrong and eventually lead to his assassination . But neither Rajiv Gandhi nor Prabhakaran or LLTE has been explicitly named. The incidents have been shown through the eyes of an Indian Army Officer, Major Vikram Singh (John Abraham) , who is sent to Jaffna for a covert operation. Nargis Fakri is a London based war correspondent who is in Jaffna to cover the civil war. Debutant  Rashi Khanna ,as wife of Major Vikram, has been impressive in whatever screen space she has got .

The script of the film is so taut that it hardly gives you any opportunity to breathe easy. John Abraham has been exceptional. He seems to be completely immersed into the character. Never before, his performance has been so laudable. 

This movie is certainly worthy of being India's official entry to the next Academy Awards. If done so, given the fact that it addresses an international issue in such an impressive fashion, can be a serious contestant to bag the Oscar for the best foreign language film.

Verdict : 4/5

The Conjuring : Horror Reloaded

Conjuring is one of the very few horror movies in recent times whose attempt to scare you has been quite successful. The film claims to be based on true events, depicting a chapter from the live of demonologist (read supernatural investigator) couple Ed and Lorraine Warren.

The story closely follows the successful trend of horror movies from 80s and 90s. A family moves into a haunted house and soon they discover a hidden chamber. The family members start to witness supernatural activities. Children begin to see spirits. Their dog dies. All the clocks stop exactly at 3.07 AM. This lead them to seek help from experts: the Warren couple.

Although the story is an age old concept, the execution is good. The scaring scenes are decent. The climax has been filmed well. It's worth watching.

Verdict : 3/5

ISSAQ : Classic turned "Tragic"

Film fraternity across the globe has always been obsessed with the Shakespeare's tragedy set in Fair Verona.Many of these adaptations can easily be termed as timeless classics. But Bollywood had been deprived of an adaptation which would closely follow the book.Clearly, Manish Tiwari tries to keep his film very close to the original story. But he miserably fails to recreate the aura of Star Crossed Lovers at the holy banks of River Ganges.

Rahul Mishra (Prateik) and Bachchi Kashyap (Amyra), from the rival sand mafia families fall in love with each other.This  does not go well ,particularly, with Bachchi's influencial mama ,Teetas (Ravi Kishan) who arranges for Bachchi's marriage with a Police wala (Preetam).Rahul and Bachchi secretly get married but before they could make it public, at turn of events, Teetas gets killed at the hands of Rahul. Rahul is on run. While Preetam and Kashyaps are hell-bent on avenging Teeta's death. Meanwhile Bachchi is also being forced to tie the knot with Preetam.

Prateik Babbar has done a reasonably good job but in certain scenes he has clearly over-acted. Newcomer Amyra Dastur looks very raw and has struggled to act. Ravi Kishan has done a decent job. The main problem lies with the direction and screenplay.Dialogues fail to impress. Story moves at the snail's pace. The iconic "Balcony Scene" is not at all even close to being impressive.

The music and lyrics are among the very few positives in the film. Title track is soothing. Bhole Chale has got interesting lyrics. Then there are songs with folk flavour.

Verdict : 2/5

My first-ever composition ..

I was staring straight into those Insanely Beautiful Eyes
Eyes, more virtuous than the most blessed soul of the cosmos.
Eyes like sea of desire,
Laden with mysteries and blazing like wildfire
Dressed in attire of sanity,
Imprisoning me with their celestial delicacy
Are my senses decepted by an enchantment?
Immersed into non-existent?
Oh Lord! They are as real as it gets,
Glowing like the morning dew on the rose petals.
Wish the Earth would stand still for a while,
I would kiss them , and disappear into their sparkle!!!!