Director: Umesh Shukla
Producer: Ashvini Yardi, Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal
Writer: Bhavesh Mandalia, Umesh Shukla
Cast: Mithun Chakraborty, Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Mahesh Manjrekar, Govind Namdeo
Rating: ***

"OMG: Oh My God!" is based on a Gujrati play named "Kanji Virrudh Kanji" by Bhavesh Mandalia.

Oh My God is about a man (Kanji) who does not beleive in God and when there is an earthquake in the city nothing or nobody is harmed but Kanji's shop is destroyed. The insurance company dismisses his claim saying it's an act of God. So, Kanji decides to sue God and the court accepts his case.

The film sets out to make a few caustic comments about reducing God into an industry through a set of fraud godmen who have to defend the almighty against Kanji in court. You spot glimpses of real life in the various holy personalities played out by Mithun Chakraborty, Govind Namdeo and Poonam Jhawar. These characters, though, could seem half-baked. Despite that flaw, the film still manages to regale because of two reasons.

First, OMG makes its point without fuss and without going over the top. Provoking as the subject is, the film was clearly not intentioned to insult faith. It is a script idea that could have easily gone wrong. Films adapted from plays often tend to get too melodramatic. OMG avoids that trap.

Secondly, the film works for its lead pair. Akshay and Paresh share crackling chemistry as God and the man who will finally learn to accept the concept of God as a positive presence in life. Together, the two actors lend the film its biggest USP.

Review: Believe in God but not blindly. Instead of following regular faiths of visiting temples, dargah or other religious places come out and help those who are in needs.

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Director: Anurag Basu
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana D'cruz, Rupa Ganguly, Akash Khurana, Jishu Sengupta
Banner: Yash Raj Films
Rating: *****

Barfi is a love triangle” sweet, sublime and differently told, but obvious to the core anyway. There is a hint of a mystery in this story too, but it all ends without much of a surprise.

In Darjeeling of the early seventies lives the differently-abled Barfi (Ranbir), prankster who never runs out of goofy ideas. He was born Murphy but then the name changed to Barfi over the years. When he meets Shruti (Ileana D’Cruz), daughter of a rich Kolkata household that comes to Darjeeling on vacation, the sparks fly. The problem is, Shruti is already engaged to be married and can€™t decide who to choose.

The plot spin comes when Barfi needs big money after his father falls ill. Search for a solution sees him resort to crime, and also facilitates the entry of Priyanka Chopra as the autistic Jhilmil. Since Jhilmil belongs to a rich family, she could be Barfi€™s key to big cash. Of course, its never that smooth. What follows adds suspense to rom-com.

Priyanka tries too hard to become Jhilmil, and the effort shows. This role could have been a steal for the talented National Award-winning star. Instead, she chooses to play to the gallery. A little less wiggling of the fingers, a smaller twitch on the lips and a less elaborate roll of the eyes would have sufficed. Debutante Ileana on the other hand does admirably, making most of her more simplistic role. The Telugu superstar gets her body language as a posh Bengali girl bang-on.

Barfi! is a pleasantly different film, only it isn’€™t an extraordinary one. That's because despite the brilliant characters and setting, the film doesn’€™t have an extraordinary story to tell.

The hero can’t speak or hear” so he has no dialogues while the heroine is an autistic girl. The film is set in Darjeeling and there are no songs on lip sync, not even the mandatory item number our songless films normally have.

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Rating : *****
Banner : Pramod Films
Release Date : 27 Jul 2012
Genre : Comedy
Director : Prateek Chakravorty
Producer : Prateek Chakravorty
Star Cast : Sharad Malhotra, Rohit Khurana, Bidita Bag, Meghaa Banerjee, Prateek Chakravorty, Raj Bakshi, Evelyn Sharma, Lubaina Snyder, Karan Sagoo, Suhail Syed, Reshmi Ghosh, Kalpana Chatterjee
Story / Writers : Prateek Chakravorty

"From Sydney With Love" is loaded with newcomers, bad acting and also a plot so convoluted and nonsensical you wonder how something like this can be converted into a full-fledged movie.

Story : It's about a Bengali girl who is on her way to Sydney, Australia, to study. Her mother is worried that she may go 'off track' once exposed to the western culture, while her father trusts her completely. Once there, she runs into three boys, one after another, and all manage to befriend her at their first meeting. Next, you know that all are vying for her attention and more importantly, all are in her class.

She keeps reminding all, one after another, that her parents have sent her to study and she cannot break their trust and fool around. But the inevitable happens, one manages to get in bed with her, she comes to Calcutta, he comes in search of her with another friend.

When he learns she is pregnant, he runs; his friend stays. Later he has a change of heart.

But by then, the other friend has offered to marry her. He returns and now wants to marry her. So what does friend do? He does the next best thing. He asks girl who she wants to marry. Obviously she will marry the one who impregnated her.

In between all this , girls sister is having boyfriend trouble with her dad, so this friend helps her as well.
In between bad acting, you are subjected to bad songs with pathetic  choreography.

When the who saga ends, you feel sorry not only for the people who acted in this project and the people who were in the creative team, but also for the few who will saunter into multiplexes to watch this film.

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Cast: Parvin Dabas, Suhasini Mulay, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Harsh Mayar, Lehar Khan and Krishang Trivedi
Director: Nila Madhab Panda
Rating: *****

In spite of its flaws, of which there are many, 'Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid' wins your heart with its simple fluid storytelling and characters who seem to have taken birth in the deserted village in Haryana, long before the camera was switched on.

There is a fascinating play of light and shade in Deepak Venkateshan's screenplay. It manfully tries to incorporate several genres and perhaps ends up being neither here nor there.

But the heart, oh that wondrous creation, is constantly in the right place. Director Nila Madhab Panda takes two city-bred children Shreya (Lehar Khan) and Sam (Krishang Trivedi) with their father (Parvin Dabas) and grandmother(Suhasini Mulay) to their ancestral village, a dry godforsaken land of non-productivity suspiciously bereft of girl children.

From there, the film follows a scattered craggy path culminating in a finale which doesn't quite hold up, but nonetheless offers us a heartwarming insight into the harsh reality of life in many parts of rural India where a female child is still considered a liability. While applauding the attempt to yoke a children's adventure story into a sombre issue, we must also stop and wonder at the film's end-narration where we are told that if Dev (Parvin Dabas) had stayed back in his village, his little girl may not have been born.

There are some strained attempts to pitch Dev's children's progressive upbringing against the backwater superstitious village. Shreya calls her father by his first name and is proudly declared 'on a par with any boy'. This isn't really the kind of gender equality that we should be espousing in our prejudiced society.
Girls need their identity. They don't need to behave like boys to be given gender equality. It's naive to expect the two genders to behave uniformly and thereby achieve equality for the girl child.

The child performers are good but no patch on Harsh Mayar and Hussan Saad in Panda's 'I Am Kalam'. Mayar in fact, has a role as a rough village boy, which he struggles to give an identity to. But somehow, the characters in the village remain shadowy, under-sketched. The only exception is Tannishtha Chatterjee, who as a rural migrant from West Bengal brings her trademark spunk into her character.

The flaws do not eclipse the film's efforts to tell a story about the absence of equal opportunities for children of both sexes.

The indigenous music by Midival Punditz and Ashish Chauhan roots the narration to its milieu, while the cinematography by Savita Singh Puri transports the film to an international level.

Apurva Asrani edits the scattered material with room for the characters to breathe easily.

'Jalpari' is a little gem, with a message on female foeticide that is so critical, and a heart so large that the narration could easily have been submerged in the social statement.

Panda has carved a miniature gem on the past imperfect and the present tense of the girl child. 'Jalpari' should immediately be granted tax exemption and made accessible to every Indian who loves his daughter and to every womb breaker who ever thought of snuffing an unborn life out.

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Rating: *****
Director: Bela Bhansali Sehgal
Cast: Boman Irani, Farah Khan, Daisy Irani and Shammi

Story: "Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi" shows Shirin Farhad... challenges the norms of a normal love story. Instead of super good looking hot bods as its lovestruck protagonists, the limelight shifts to two 40 plus Parsis who remained unmarried due to various reasons.

Farhad Pastakia (Boman Irani) is a 45-year-old virgin who is a little under the thumb of his mother. He’s shy around women despite being an innerwear salesman and as a result hasn’t got married as yet. A chance meeting with Shirin Fuggawala (Farah Khan), a 40-year-old who hasn’t bothered with marriage as her father is in coma for some years, leads to true love. Now, what’s love without trials and tribulations. Misunderstandings lead to heartbreak but thankfully, the couple head towards a tearful happy ending in the end.

It serves us warm helpings of middle class families loving, fighting and living. We can identify with some of the ever so loving relatives who tend to (perhaps unwittingly) smother us with love. Khatta Meetha (1981) introduced us to some Parsi stereotypes, which were time and again reinforced and Shirin Farhad... is no exception. The film lampoons the community by exaggerating their eccentricities. Let’s hope someone comes up with a true presentation of modern Parsis someday.

One forgives the attempts at caricature as the film clearly has its heart in its right place. Its takes lots of courage to make middle-aged love stories. Love certainly isn’t bound by age and it’s fun to see Boman and Farah cast aside inhibitions and revel in the moment. Both actors are required to be loud in places but they look their best when they are just being themselves. One hopes that other filmmakers take up the cause and gather different hues of love rather than the Mills and Boon variety that serves as a norm. And that we get to see more middle- aged actors getting lead roles.

Review:  It’s a good first film which succeeds in putting a smile on your face for two hours. There are unnecessary song and dance routine and the dream sequences.

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Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: Salmam Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ranvir Shorey, Usha Uthup
Banner: Yash Raj Films
Rating: *****

Ek Tha Tiger released today in all the major cities in India on Independence Day. The crowd itself shows the fan following and there’s no doubt Salman Khan has delivered another Box-Office hit. Tickets are booked in advanced an its total housefull.

This is for the first time Salman Khan movie is being produced under Yash Raj Films Banner.

The buzz is that this movie is going to break all the Box-Office records in Bollywood as Salman Khan plus Katrina Kaif fans following is no match.

Story: Salman Kan plays the character of “Tiger Boss” and “Zoya” (Katrina Kaif) is his lady love.

Tiger is India’s top spy and a Raw agent, legend and one man army. Tiger is sent on a mission to Ireland to observe Indian Scientist who is suspected to have shared his research with Pakistan. To meet the scientist Tiger befriends with scientists caretaker Zoya. Tiger falls in love with her and start a new journey which is forbidden in intelligence….

Gopi (Ranvir Shorey) and Tiger grow together to be most trusted RAW agents and buddies. He is Tigeers shadow has every information about Tiger.

Shenoy (Girish Karnad) father, mentor and boss is the most experienced and a RAW chief.

Movie was shot in different foreign locations like Iraq, Ireland and Turkey.

Review: Ek Tha Tiger is a must watch movie and the reason is Salman Khan. Isn’t that enough!

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Silent romance 'The Artist' won five Oscars on Monday including best film, and Martin Scorsese's 'Hugo' also took five of the world's top movie honours on a night where stories about movies felt the love of Hollywood.

'The Artist,' a black-and-white tale of a fading star who finds redemption through romance in the era when silent movies were overtaken by talkies, added to its best film victory with Oscars for its French star Jean Dujardin and director Michel Hazanavicius, as well for musical score and costume design.

"I am the happiest director in the world right now. Thank you for that,"Hazanavicius told the audience of stars including George Clooney, Michelle Williams, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Dujardin was equally excited, exclaiming "I love this country" before thanking the Academy, fellow filmmakers and his wife and recalling silent actor Douglas Fairbanks as an inspiration.

Meryl Streep won for her role as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who is slipping into dementia in 'The Iron Lady.' It was Streep's third Academy Award out of 17 nominations. She joked that the audience was probably tired of seeing her, then added, "whatever." But Streep couldn't hide her emotion as she choked up while thanking her husband and talking about her long career.

 

Director Martin Scorsese's 'Hugo, 'which tells of a boy lost in a train station and serves as an ode to early filmmaking, came into the night with a leading 11 nominations and picked up five wins for cinematography, art direction, sound editing and mixing and visual effects.

Veteran Plummer, a star of classic film 'The Sound of Music,' won his first ever Oscar for his portrayal of an elderly gay man who comes out to his family in 'Beginners,' making Oscar history becoming the oldest ever Academy Award winner at age 82.

"You're only two years older than me, darling. Where have you been all of my life," he said, looking at his golden Oscar, which was celebrating its 84th awards ceremony.

Spencer, a relative newcomer in contrast to Plummer, had to hold back tears as she accepted her trophy for her portrayal of a black, southern made in civil rights drama 'The Help.'

"Thank you Academy for putting me with the hottest guy in the room," she said holding her Oscar in her hand. She then went on to talk about her family in Alabama and could not hold back her tears as she joyously accepted her trophy.

In other major wins, the foreign language film award went to Iranian divorce drama 'A Separation.'

"I proudly offer this award to the people of my country, the people who respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment," said its director Ashgar Farhadi.

'The Artist' won five Academy Awards on Sunday including best picture, becoming the first silent film to triumph at Hollywood's highest honors since the original Oscar ceremony 83 years ago.
Among other prizes for the black-and-white comic melodrama were best actor for Jean Dujardin and director for Michel Hazanavicius.

The other top Oscars went to Meryl Streep as best actress for "The Iron Lady," Octavia Spencer as supporting actress for 'The Help' and Christopher Plummer as supporting actor for 'Beginners.'

'The Artist' is the first silent winner since the World War I saga 'Wings' was named outstanding picture at the first Oscars in 1929 had a silent film earned the top prize.

"I am the happiest director in the world," Havanavicius said, thanking the cast, crew and canine co-star Uggie. "I also want to thank the financier, the crazy person who put money in the movie."
The other wins for 'The Artist' were musical score and art direction. Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure 'Hugo' also won five Oscars, all in technical categories.

Streep's win was her first Oscar in 29 years, since she won best actress for 'Sophie's Choice.' She had lost 12 times in a row since then. Streep also has a supporting-actress Oscar for 1979's 'Kramer vs. Kramer.'

"When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America go, 'Oh, no, why her again?' But whatever," Streep said, laughing.

"I really understand I'll never be up here again. I really want to think all my colleagues, my friends. I look out here and I see my life before my eyes, my old friends, my new friends. Really, this is such a great honour but the think that counts the most with me is the friendship and the love and the sheer job we've shared making moves together," said Streep, the record-holder with 17 acting nominations. Streep is only the fifth performer to receive three Oscars. Jack Nicholson, Ingrid Bergman and Walter Brennan all earned three, while Katharine Hepburn won four.

It was a night that went as expected, with front-runners claiming key prizes. Streep's triumph provided a bit of drama, since she had been in a two-woman race with Viola Davis for "The Help."

The biggest surprise may have been the length of the show, which clocked in at about three hours and 10 minutes, brisk for a ceremony that has run well over four hours some years. The 82-year-old Plummer became the oldest acting winner ever for his role as an elderly widower who comes out as gay in 'Beginners.' The previous oldest winner was best-actress recipient Jessica Tandy for 'Driving Miss Daisy,' at age 80.

Completing an awards-season blitz that took her from Hollywood bit player to star, Spencer won for her role in 'The Help' as a headstrong black maid whose willful ways continually land her in trouble with white employers in 1960s Mississippi.

Spencer wept throughout her breathless speech, in which she apologized between laughing and crying for running a bit long on her time limit.

"Thank you, academy, for putting me with the hottest guy in the room," Spencer said, referring to last year's supporting-actor winner Christian Bale, who presented her Oscar.

Dujardin became the first Frenchman to win an acting Oscar. French actresses have won before, including Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche.

The win is even more impressive given the type of film Hazanavicius made, a black-and-white silent movie that was a throwback to the early decades of cinema. Other than Charles Chaplin, who continued to make silent films into the 1930s, and Mel Brooks, who scored a hit with the 1976 comedy 'Silent Movie,' few people have tried it since talking pictures took over in the late 1920s.

The only other filmmaker from France to win the directing Oscar is 'The Pianist' creator Roman Polanski, who was born in France, moved to Poland as a child and has lived in France since fleeing Hollywood in the 1970s on charges he had sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Hazanavicius, known in his home country for the 'OSS 117' spy comedies but virtually unheard of in Hollywood previously, won a prize that eluded half a dozen of France's most-esteemed filmmakers, including Jean Renoir, Francois Truffaut and Louis Malle, who all were nominated for directing Oscars but never won.

The visual-effects prize had been the last chance for the 'Harry Potter' franchise to win an Oscar. The finale, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,' had been nominated for visual effects and two other Oscars but lost all three. Previous 'Harry Potter' installments had lost on all nine of their nominations.

"And yet they only paid 14 percent income tax," Oscar host Billy Crystal joked about the 'Potter' franchise. Another beloved big-screen bunch, the Muppets, finally got their due at the Oscars. 'The Muppets' earned the best-song award for "Man or Muppet," the sweet comic duet sung by Jason Segel and his Muppet brother in the film, the first big- screen adventure in 12 years for Kermit the frog and company.

Earlier Muppet flicks had been nominated for four music Oscars but lost each time, including the song prize for 'The Rainbow Connection,' Kermit's signature tune from 1979's 'The Muppet Movie.' "I grew up in New Zealand watching the Muppets on TV. I never dreamed I'd get to work with them," said "Man or Muppet" writer Bret McKenzie of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords," who joked about meeting Kermit for the first time. "Like many stars here tonight, he's a lot shorter in real life."

Filmmaker Alexander Payne picked up his second writing Oscar, sharing the adapted-screenplay prize for the Hawaiian family drama 'The Descendants' with co-writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Payne, who also directed "The Descendants," previously won the same award for "Sideways."

Woody Allen earned his first Oscar in 25 years, winning for original screenplay for the romantic fantasy 'Midnight in Paris,' his biggest hit in decades. It's the fourth Oscar for Allen, who won for directing and screenplay on his 1977 best-picture winner 'Annie Hall' and for screenplay on 1986's 'Hannah and Her Sisters.' Allen also is the record-holder for writing nominations with 15, and his three writing Oscars ties the record shared by Charles Brackett, Paddy Chayefsky, Francis Ford Coppola and Billy Wilder.

No fan of awards shows, Allen predictably skipped Sunday's ceremony, where he also was up for best director and 'Midnight in Paris' was competing in vain for best picture.
'Rango,' with Johnny Depp providing the voice of a desert lizard that becomes a hero to a parched Western town, won for best animated feature.

"Someone asked me if this film was for kids, and I don't know. But it was certainly created by a bunch of grown-ups acting like children," said "Rango" director Gore Verbinski, who made the first three of Depp's "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. Crystal got the show off to a lively start with a star-laden montage in which he hangs out with Justin Bieber and gets a nice wet kiss from George Clooney. Back as Oscar host for the first time in eight years, Crystal also did his signature introduction of the best- picture nominees with a goofy song medley.

Crystal's return as host seemed appropriate on a night that had Hollywood looking back fondly on more than a century of cinema history.

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Movie: Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol Critic's Rating****
Cast: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Michael Nyqvist, Anil Kapoor
Direction: Brad Bird
Genre: Action
Duration: 2 hours 13 minutes


Story: The high profile IMF is falsely accused of bombing the Kremlin and agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his teammates are forced to become rogue agents, with the government declaring a ghost protocol (no protection) against them. In a race against time, they must clear their name and save the world from armageddon, as a deadly megalomaniac, Cobalt (Michael Nyqvist) wants to start a nuclear war.

Movie Review: Action has always been the high point of the Mission Impossible series. But this kind of action: Wow!

The new film is essentially a relentless roller-coaster ride that doesn't give you a moment to sit back and keeps the adrenalin pumping to dizzy heights as Tom Cruise gets on his regular mission of saving the world, one more time. And once again, he has nothing on his side, not even his government, other than his physical prowess, his ability to perform the most death- defying stunts and an abundance of sheer luck which redefines the word 'impossible' as 'possible'.

This time however, he isn't working as the lone ranger but has a close knit crack team comprising agent carter ( Paula Patton), Brandt ( Jeremy Renner) and Benji ( Simon Pegg). While Carter adds the glamour quotient, apart from being a female action hero, Benji takes care of the humour element even as he manages the techie stuff and the funky gadgetry and Brandt, the analyst, remains unpredictable and mysterious with a deadly secret. It's a winning team, despite the individual differences and the foursome end up as an endearing family with each character having a substantial role to play.

But essentially it is the exquisite stunts and the high- decibel action set pieces which create magic on screen. The mission basically entails four main tasks: stealing a missing file, getting hold of the Cold War nuclear codes, infiltrating a satellite and finally, defusing a nuclear warhead before it strikes its target and decimates the world.

But before the task is executed you get to witness some genre-defining action sequences which include a daring prison break in Russia, the infiltration of the Kremlin, Cruise's high-rise leaps and jumps followed by his awesome ascent over Dubai's tallest tower, Patton's cat fight with the blonde assassin, Brandt's satellite entry and the final confrontation in Mumbai's multi-level car parking. Performance-wise, Cruise is in total command of the drama which boasts of several engaging twists and turns.

A word about Anil Kapoor: he plays playboy Brij Nath with a penchant for pretty girls and shady deals, in a comic vein. It is just a bit more than a blink- and-you'll-miss role as Patton unleashes her charms on him.

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Film: The Dirty Picture
Director: Milan Luthria
Cast: Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi and
Tusshar
Rating: ****

It’s the mid-80s. An ageing, vain superstar is surrounded by his cronies as a script writer
narrates a story about an orphan to him.”This orphan hero angle is so '60s,” cuts in the star. “Let’s give the hero a family for a change. Let’s give him a sister too. Then let’s get her raped.” Everyone around
can’t stop marveling at the idea. The writer is impressed too. “Let’s make this movie,”
he says. The ’80s was probably the lowest point in our cinema.

Doodh ka karz, behen ka badla and maa kasam ruled, as plot lines of each film resembled
that of the other. The story almost always revolved around the film’s lead star, a
comedy track was a must, there had to be a punch line in every scene, and crassness
was a necessary ingredient. There was also a vamp prancing in skimpily clad
outfits around the good-hearted hero, before he spurned her advances for the
pristine heroine. But even as we may squirm at some of these films today, many of
them continue to entertain us on lazy Sunday afternoons.

Even camp, after all, must be celebrated. And that is what The Dirty Picture does. Meant to be a
biopic of south siren Silk Smitha, the film really is a recreation of an era when
hyperbole in cinema was cool. It also pays tribute to all things inane about our films. Even as
it depicts an era when the formula ruled, The Dirty Picture lives the formula itself. Director Milan Luthria and writer Rajat Arora give us a dialoguebaazi-filled potboiler that plays to the gallery, and is
a vehicle for its lead actor Vidya Balan to display histrionics.

Entertainment is the sole purpose. It has its shares of inanities, especially in the latter half (another trait
typical to our films – the post- interval mishmash), but has enough masala and good
performances to ride us through to the end. If I may use the oft-repeated trade
jargon, The Dirty Picture is complete paisa vasool. The tempo is racy. The Tamil
song, ‘Nakka Mukka’ (from the 2008 film, Kadhalil Vizhunthen), blares as the
opening credits roll. The song then appears at strategic points in the narrative, one
where Vidya gyrates suggestively, licking her lips as she thrusts her hips hard. It’s a
masterstroke, buying the rights to the song, and it continues to ring in your ears
much after you’ve walked out of theatre.

The Bappi Lahiri ditty ‘Ooh la la’ is, then, second best. Vidya plays junior artist Reshma (Hindi for silk, also probably a reference to one of Silk Smitha’s popular films, Reshma Ki Jawani), before film producer Silva Ganesh christens her Silk. She goofs up her first big break – an item song with superstar Suryakant. Naseeruddin Shah gives a pitch-perfect performance as matinee idol Suryakant, each body
movement laudable; every expression priceless. Shah makes the role his own,
making it impossible to envision any other actor in his place. “What makes you
special?” he asks Silk. “I have had 500 women before you.”

She looks at him, eyes sparking, and says, “But have you had the same woman 500 times?” He’s visibly surprised; even pleased. So are you. To have a Hindi film heroine who is unapologetic about
using her sexuality to achieve means is always welcome. To have a Hindi film heroine who
does it with such relish is a real victory. And Vidya Balan pulls off Silk in a manner no
current female actor can.

Heck, no actor in recent times has shown – if I may say so – the balls to give himself/herself to a role as wholeheartedly as Vidya has (barring, probably, Ranbir Kapoor in Rockstar). She is fearless, giving an uninhibited portrayal of someone who enjoys adulation, but dies a lonely death. She is the fantasy of
millions, but craves love. She doesn’t get it. And Vidya brings all that – the
flamboyance, the sensuality, the heartbreak – to her role (and without coming across
even a tad vulgar). And she is aided by some fiery dialogue by Arora. The one-
liners come thick and fast (so many, you lose track after a point), some meant to amuse,
others a tool to shock.

Nudity is minimal (although there’s ample cleavage at display); it’s the dialogue that makes The Dirty Picture sassy. But post-interval, the writing lags. The track involving Silk and Suryakant’s brother, played by Tusshar, slows down proceedings mainly because Tusshar fails to rise to the challenge of performing
with far more able actors. He sticks out like a sore thumb. Emraan Hashmi, on the other
hand, is good. The chemistry between him and Vidya is sizzling (the two dislike each
other, making their camaraderie interesting).

But the need to pander to Emraan’s ‘hero’ image jars. Why else would a filmmaker (played by Hashmi) turn hero suddenly, especially when there was a clear alternative Arora/Luthria could have opted for? He’s given a song too, one that is lilting but slows down the tempo. It’s kinda funny – the film speaks of the
misogynistic nature of the film industry but can’t entirely escape it. Luthria seems to have been
stuck between making a wholly commercial product and staying true to the story.
While he does balance it well for most part, and quite efficiently too, he could have
done without resorting to convenient twists in the film towards the end. His isn’t
really a biopic, surely not an authentic one, as he picks up threads from different sources
(Suryakant seems to be influenced by two-three superstars, for example) and
uses it to his advantage (he never claimed to make an authentic telltale, so it’s okay).
Sadly, though, he fails to make Silk’s downward spiral as engaging as her rise to fame. With a highly entertaining first half, and a mediocre second, The Dirty Picture falls short of
being truly remarkable. But for that ‘boombaat’ of a performer, Vidya Balan (one star solely for her), and
entertaining dialogue, the film is worth the ticket price. Watch The Dirty Picture for the
gutsiest, most versatile actor we have today.

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Director: Imtiaz Ali
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri
In the film Rockstar, Ranbir Kapoor is advised that to be a true-blue artist and a real rockstar he has to experience pain, which will come through heartbreak. If we go by this theory, most audiences of  his film will walk out of the hall as rockstars, since the movie will largely leave them heartbroken.
But for heartbreak, it is imperative to fall in love first and that's exactly what director Imtiaz Ali does. He starts off the film on a promising note and just when you fall in love with the amazing first half,  he narrative nosedives with a stagnant second half.
So you have the naive Janardhan Jakhar (Ranbir Kapoor) who aspires to be a rockstar like Jim Morrison. His yearning for heartbreak gets him close to Heer (Nargis Fakhri), as they bond over soft-
porn cinema and country liquor. Soon after, the girl is arried off to some NRI, the oy is thrown out of his house, he seeks solace in a dargah and next you know he's a singing sensation rechristened as
Jordan.
A foreign tour reunites him with Heer and their passive passion rekindles until Jordan is obsessed with her. What follows is another tribute to Devdas or rather Dev.D with the neurotic, lovelorn protagonist unable to get over his mixed emotions and confused definition of love. But that's not all as the plot meanders to culminate into an undesired arena of Erich Segal's Love Story.
Imtiaz Ali is known for his old- wine-in-new-bottle brand of cinema. Rockstar is very much engaging as far as it is in that familiar territory, where the director adds a refreshing touch to the regular romance drama. The casual chemistry that he induces between the lead pair through their wacky and eventful escapades has its moments of charm. The passion-play between them when they reunite after years is spontaneous, smoldering and yet tastefully achieved.

Their reunion is also faintly reminiscent of the Jab We Met reunion, where the character-conduct is reversed with the burbling boy now trying to make the gloomy girl's life more exciting. And like Love Aaj Kal, Imtiaz Ali kick-starts the film with a montage song highlighting select significant sequences from the entire film.

But beyond that when the director ventures into uncharted zone, the narrative loses track. While one can still overlook the Dev.D influenced intoxicating attitude of the proceedings (which you can somehow attribute to the convoluted rockstar protagonist), the subsequent terminal illness conflict takes the film towards an unwelcome and undefined end. After an interesting graph to the narrative in the first half, the story almost turns stationary in the second half.
The screenplay seems stretched and gets monotonous with repetitive media-bashing scenes and flashback shots of what has been already served to you.
Another problem with the plot is that it is neither a standalone story about the rise-of-an-underdog who becomes the biggest rockstar nor is it merely a love story with a rockstar backdrop. The director somewhere attempts to correlate the rockstar's rise with his romance but isn't able to achieve that impeccably. In fact the original one-liner plot with which the movie starts (a painful heartbreak gets out the real artist inside you) goes for a complete toss by the end.

One can never clearly perceive when Jordan's heart is broken in the assorted scheme of events and that's where the film loses objectivity.
The storytelling pattern of the film is needlessly intricate for a simple romance-drama genre.

While it is very much linear, the frequent use of multiple montages can have you confused. Initially the montages aid brisk storytelling but subsequently there are so much of them that it gets puzzling. Editing the film would surely have been a difficult task. Anil Mehta's cinematography is brilliant as he captures the beauty of Kashmir, Italy and Delhi with panache. AR Rahman's wide range of music has numbers which are instantly infectious (Sadda Haq) and others that take time to grow on you.

If Rockstar keeps you engaged even after you have given up on the story by the end, it is only because of Ranbir Kapoor.
From his innocence in the opening reels to his arrogance in the climax, Ranbir breathes life into Jordan and keeps you riveted. Whether he adlibs his songs, gives a dance-tribute to Shammi Kapoor or dictates the concert crowd, Ranbir gives cent percent to his character.
How much ever you try to ignore, but Nargis Fakhri fervently reminds of Katrina Kaif through her looks, acting, lip movements (and seemingly also has the same voice dubbing artist). Nevertheless she is likeable and shares good chemistry with Ranbir. Kumud Mishra as Jordan's advisor-turned anager is impressive.

Aditi Rao Hydari is confident but marred by a short-lived character. Piyush Mishra makes for an animated-yet- interesting negative lead. And it's pleasing to see Shammi Kapoor is his last decent cameo.
Rockstar rocks you but only partially thanks to the star called Ranbir Kapoor.

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The country bumpkin irritates, exasperates and is difficult to deal with but he is blessed with a heart of gold. The miracle man will interact with you for a few minutes and your life will change forever. All the petty strife and rivalries which have so far populated your existence will suddenly cease to exist. The protagonist as a naïve charmer has become an often repeated theme largely due to the success of the Munnabhai series.

But a simple quirky idea generally isn't enough to generate a masterpiece. There have been plenty of other films which talked about life-altering events occurring during the span of a single day or night. Kuch Love Jaisa and Utt Patang are just two of the duds which come to mind.

My Friend Pinto is one such caper destined to sink at the box office this Friday.

Slapstick humour is like a many-times-patched, retreaded tyre often rolled out during the second half of the film hoping to accelerate the pace. But slapstick needs to be combined with an edgy script, crisp repartee and laugh-a-minute gags to keep the audience engaged and entertained.

My Friend Pinto which was probably planned as a social satire on urban life style and the inherent callousness of ruthless money minded city slickers turns into a meaningless one-night stand. Pun intended.

Now returning to Prateik Michael Pinto, who has just landed in Mumbai. He's here to meet and spend a week with his childhood friend Sam (Arjun Mathur). Sam is a yuppie who puts up with an overbearing boss at the office and a domineering wife at home. In this chaos lands up his childhood buddy Pinto who hopes to spend a week with him.

Pinto behaves more like he's travelled two hundred years through a time machine to reach Mumbai instead of the overnight journey he's undertaken to reach Mumbai Central station.  There is murder and mayhem all around him but Pinto remains oblivious of this fact. And the mindless so called humour begins.

A crowded station, two gun-toting goons, a conman on the run with a huge bag stuffed with moolah could have been the most appropriate fertile ground for the hilarity to begin. But first-time director Raagav Dar prefers to focus on Prateik the actor and lets the supporting cast slip into the background. And somebody tripping on a suitcase or accidentally wrenching off a handle are jokes associated more with the Rohit Shetty school of humour.

Trite gags are interwoven in a script lacking in focus or suspense. The characters keep up popping up at random intervals and then disappear from screen. Makarand Deshpande plays a retired Mallu Don who wishes to keep his mistress happy. Makarand tries hard to make the audience laugh, but in today's times is the 'mallu' accent enough to have the audience rolling in their seats? Not really, despite a valiant effort Makarand doesn't even succeed in evoking a chuckle.

There's Divya Dutta as Reshma, a failed actress who tries hard to seduce a younger man. Considering the oomph factor which Divya is capable of oozing on screen, it is one more opportunity lost as the all-pervading air is one of buffoonery.

Kalki Koechlin's Hindi speaking abilities improve with every film. But she is a bit of a miscast as she looks older than Prateik. A small role carried off effortlessly.

My Friend Pinto is a great opportunity for Prateik to showcase his skills both as an actor and a dancer. The young awkward boy from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na has metamorphosed into a fine and confident actor. An endearing smile which can win many over many pretty young things. Yet he doesn't look like a shy young lad who has never visited a big city. A miscast for this role.

Paying homage to the all-time cult film Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron there is also a dead body being lugged around and which needs to be disposed off at the earliest. Doesn't form an integral part of the story, it appears as an add-on to a shoddy script.

As the grand finale Ragaav Dar summarily commentates on the lessons embedded in the script. Doesn't say much for his story-telling abilities.

See this only if you are a Prateik Babbar fan. Else avoid.

Cast & Crew of My Friend Pinto

Banner: UTV Motion Pictures, SLB Films
Release Date: October 14, 2011
Genre: Romance
Shooting Studios: Mehboob Studio
Producer: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ronnie Screwvala
Executive Producer / Co-Producer: Aditya Singh
Director: Raghav Dar
Star Cast: Prateik Babbar...... Michael Pinto, Kalki Koechlin, Manisha Koirala, Naseeruddin Shah, Divya Dutta, Makrand Deshpande, Shakeel Khan, Arjun Mathur, Raj Zutshi, Shruti Seth, Amin Hajee
Cassettes and CD's on: UTV Music
Singers: Kunal Ganjawala, Gayatri Ganjawala, K K, Nirmatee, Sunidhi Chauhan
Lyricist: Amitabh Bhattacharya,Deepa Seshadri
Music Director: Ajay Gogavale, Atul Gogavale, Shamir Tandon, Kavita Seth, Hitesh Sonik
Background Music: Hitesh Sonik
Action: Sham Kaushal
Editor: Shan Mohammed, Dipika Kalra
Screenplay: Raghav Dar
Sound: Stephen Gomes
Costume: Shabina Khan, Darshan Jalan
Story / Writer: Raghav Dar

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50 Hollywood movies you can’t afford to miss

1. The Skeleton Key. TR
2. Minority Report. AD,SF
3. Troy EP, DR
4. Behind Enemy Lines WB
5. Déjà Vu SF, AD
6. Gladiator EP, DR
7. Rat Race CD
8. Mirrors HR
9. Mr. and Mrs. Smith CD
10. 300 EP, WB
11. Shutter Island TR
12. Euro Trip CD
13. Apocalypto AD
14. Bedazzled CD
15. Mummy AD, TR
16. Case 39 TR
17. The pursuit of happiness DR
18. Signs AD, TR
19. Pay Cheque SF, TR
20. Transporter AT
21. Ice-Age AN
22. Up AN
23. Home Alone CD
24. Batman Begins DR, AD
25. The Dark Knight DR, AD
26. Pearl Harbor WB, DR
27. The Terminal DR
28. Cast Away DR
29. Spider Man-1,2,3 AD,SF
30. Prince of Persia WB
31. 50 First Dates DR
32. The Ring HR
33. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl AD
34. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest AD
35. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End AD
36. A Beautiful Mind DR
37. The Sixth Sense DR
38. Green Mile DR
39. Vantage Point AD,TR
40. The Hangover CD
41. Night at the Museum CD
42. Madagascar AN
43. House of Wax TR,HR
44. X-Men TR,SF
45. The Grudge HR
46. National Treasure AD
47. WALL-E AN
48. Constantine HR,TR
49. Exorcist: The Beginning TR
50. Mission Impossible AT
----------------------------------------
Adventure-AD
Thriller-TR
Comedy-CD
Sci-Fi-SF
Drama-DR
Horror-HR
Epic-EP
War Based-WB
Action-AT
Animated-AN
Romantic-RM

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Despite being marred by several controversies and facing opposition from political parties and state governments, Prakash Jha's much-hyped movie 'Aarakashan' has managed to earn average collection during the first five days of its release.

Uttar Pradesh, the biggest market for Hindi movies in the country, is yet to give the green signal, while Punjab and Andhra Pradesh delayed its release, but the movie has done very well in Maharashtra, and some of the northern states.

It is learnt that in the first phase the expected net box office collection is about Rs 27 crores in India and abroad. The good news for Jha is, the movie is earning average collections in both single screen as well as multiplexes.

If Uttar Pradesh allows the screening of the movie, it will surely make some profit, souces say.

Aarakshan, primarily based on caste-based reservation system in education in the first part, and then diverting its attention to coaching classes in the second half, has received mixed reviews from critics. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, Prateik Babbar and Manoj Bajpayee, the movie released on August 12 was reportedly produced at a cost of Rs 42 crores.

On August 19 there are a couple of new movies in line for release, and it will be a big challenge for Aarakshan to remain in the box office. Ram Gopal Verma's much-awaited 'Not a Love Story,' a movie based on Maria Susairaj and Jerome Mathew, the accused in the sensational Neeraj Grover murder case, has already started gathering public attention. Sanjay Dutt's long pending 'Chatur SIngh Two Star' is also releasing the same week.

There are two more low-profile movies releasing on August 19 which can play a significant role in the market. One of them is Cover Story, the official remake of Dutch film 'Interview ' which was also remade in Hollywood with Sienna Miller in the lead role. Jackie Shroff and Sheena Nayyar play the lead roles in the Hindi version.

Parvin Dabas' directorial debut Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande is the other low profile movie releasing at the same time.

It would be interesting to see how these new movies effect Aarakshan's run at the theatres.

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Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Prateik Babbar, Manoj Bajpai
Director: Prakash Jha

Rating: 3/5

Decent response

Amid ban in three states and minor protests in some other places, Prakash Jha's controversial Aarakshan released today to a decent response in the metropolises.
Multiplex chains and theatre owners said that the audience response was favourable in cities like Delhi, Mumbai Kolkata and Chennai, despite the ongoing politics surrounding the movie.

Amidst high security at cinema houses in Mumbai, the film, which deals with the issue of reservation in government jobs and educational institutions, received a good opening in the metropolis.

"At PVR cinemas in Mumbai the opening was decent at the rate of 62-65 per cent. It seems the agitation has had some impact on the footfall at cinema houses," Kamal Gianchandani, President, PVR Pictures, said.

An official from multiplex chain Big Cinemas said, "The opening was good in the city. Since there was heavy security people came in to see the movie. There have been no cancellation of shows in Mumbai."

"The heavy police bandobast meant people were not afraid to come and watch the movie. We have witnessed 55-70 per cent occupancy at the opening. We expect full houses on weekends," Manoj Desai, owner of Gaiety and Maratha cinema, said.

Comparatively, the response has not been so good up north with the film being banned in UP and Punjab. The occupancy rate has been 20-45 per cent at the opening, said Rahul Singh, VP Marketing, PVR.

AP, Punjab to lift ban

Prakash Jha's Aarakshan may hit cinema halls in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab on Saturday with both the state governments have agreed to lift ban. Suresh Babu president of Andhra Pradesh film producers council told TOI that a committee watched the film on Friday evening and cleared it. They objected to one dialogue of Saif Ali Khan which the producer has agreed to cut it out.

The Punjab government, which had imposed the ban on the movie on Thursday, decided to allow the release after the report of a seven-member committee, which was constituted to review the film. The committee has recommended certain cuts.

The committee, which had a preview of the movie last night, has objected to the dialogue by Saif Ali Khan regarding hard work done by Dalits. A background couplet being played criticizing the reservation policy cleared by the Supreme Court needs to be removed too.

"While weaving the story, there are certain objectionable words/dialogues which are against the norms of decency and provide a potential cause for the raising the tempers of certain communities. This may prove to be a disturbing factor in the society especially in Punjab where more than 31 per cent of the 2.77 crore population of Punjab belong to the weaker sections including the Scheduled Castes," the committee said in its report.

"Since the overall message of the movie is positive, the committee feels that the movie may be released in the state of Punjab after making the amendments as suggested above," the committee added.

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I Am Kalam is a welcome addition to the genre of children's film.

Rating:

Devoid of absolutely any known name in its cast, save for Gulshan Grover I Am Kalam is a welcome addition to the children's film genre which has often received short shrift from mainstream Bollywood.

Playing out like a documentary with scant recourses at its disposal, as if screaming to alienate itself from the commerce that defines today's cinema, I Am Kalam is a film with straight-from-the-heart directness, with a boy as protagonist whose drive towards being a tie-wearing 'bada aadmi' gives this film a sense of purpose, ambition and hope.

Chhotu (Harsh Mayar), a boy with wandering eyes, is deposited in the safe care of the genial dhaba owner Bhati (Grover) so that he can work and provide for his family of two, his mother and a sibling. Upon watching President APJ Abdul Kalam in a parade on television, Chhotu gets influenced by the great man's personality. When he hears that when Kalam was a child, he worked as a newspaper boy to fund his studies, Chhotu takes upon the name Kalam, a decision that would change his life forever.

The National Award-winning actor Harsh inhabits the world of Chhotu effortlessly, acting as if he's enjoying every minute being on camera. Husaan Saad as the son of the local royalty is a treat to watch.  Usually the bad man, Gulshan Grover unfailingly delivers as a good man every time he is offered such a role (a case in point; Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar).

On the basis of its story alone, this is a winner. However, director Nila Madhab Panda builds maudlin subplots around Chhotu which takes a great deal away than adds to the film. Chhotu itself is a wonderfully alive character, at par with Swami of Malgudi Days or Chaipau of Salaam Bombay! What connects Chaipau and Chhotu is their sense of awe at arriving at a new place, the latter to a highway-lined village in Rajasthan and the former, in the crowded bylanes of Grant Road, Mumbai. The similarities are striking; both work as tea boys and change their name. Chaipau, nonetheless, lacks the ambition that drives Chhotu.

The final truth is that I Am Kalam rests too much on Chhotu while a film like Salaam Bombay! despite giving Indian cinema one of its most enduring child protagonists, relies on its material. That's perhaps I Am Kalam's biggest flaw, to overlook other significant characters in favour of one. Because as a coherent whole, this film could have had the potential to reach someplace else.

Nevertheless, there's a certain social consciousness, a message of education being the right of  every child, that is inserted into the narrative as gently as in Amole Gupte's recent Stanley Ka Dabba.
Although set in Rajasthan with a heavy presence of foreign patrons who dot the dhaba, including a Frenchwoman who befriends Chhotu, much of I Am Kalam is Indian in spirit because it deals with a very Indian problem -- of widespread illiteracy and poverty.

In the end, what contributes to I Am Kalam immensely is its metaphor of Kalam, the scientist with an almost magical ability to bind people, especially children. Kalam today stands for education, poverty and above all, an abiding love for children, in much the same way Nehru once did. If socialist films were dubbed Nehruvian, would those with child protagonists working their way through life for higher goals and purposes in a brave, new future-time be hailed as Kalamian? 

That as it may, Chhotu idolises Kalam and even apes his hairdo. This reminded me of what Javed Akhtar has often said, about his days of growing up, "I was obsessed with poets like any other kid would be of filmstars." You become what you are and not you are what you become. Aspiring to be a poet, Javed became one, eventually.
There's a possibility that some day boys like Chhotu will grow up to lead this country. Whether he wears a tie, a Nehru jacket or styles his hair like Kalam, is entirely his discretion.

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Ratings:
Aseem Chabbra feels that the real star of the film Singham is its sound team.



In Rohit Shetty's mass-masala movie Singham, Ajay Devgn plays an upright, honest and do-gooder cop who goes way beyond the training and duties of a regular Indian Police Service officer.

He will stop to push a cart if its wheel is stuck in the mud; play with little kids; become a part time no-interest loan financier to settle a dispute between two people in his village, especially if someone is about to get married and it is their 'izzat ka sawal'.


Devgn's Bajirao Singham is almost the village panchayat, who is blessed by hundreds of drum beating men. His ritual bath in the village pond at night is accompanied with a beautiful display of floating lit lamps, and people dressed in red costumes praying, perhaps for his well-being.

After the bath, Singham walks bare-chested with mysterious smoke rising behind him, subtle dramatic lighting, to the beat of drums and what sounds like Hindu shlokas. He sometimes walks in slow-motion -- that means he is cool. And sometimes leaps at the bad guys -- that means he has lion blood flowing throwing his veins.

Singham is followed by a continuous soundtrack -- mostly the melody of the title song sung by Sukhwinder Singh. But in the second half of the film, when he decides to finally take on the evil Jaykant Shikre (a very loud and over-the-top Prakash Raj), Singham's personal soundtrack changes to religious shlokas -- as if his forthcoming actions, beyond what is allowed by the laws of the land and his training at the IPS academy, are justified and sanctioned by something above everything else -- God, Hinduism, its texts and its hymns.
Remake of a hit 2010 Tamil film, Singham is critical of the Indian politics and society. Time and again, the film's characters make observations against India's flawed and corrupt system.

The film's three writers: Hari, Yunus Sajawal and Farhad Sajid seem to be disappointed with the way India has shaped out to be. They have little faith in the law. Most cops in the film, baring Singham and a couple of his subordinates when he is posted to Goa, are shown to be corrupt or at least have an attitude that do they not give a damn.

The politicians are the guilty party. As Shikre says toward the end of the film -- from 1947 to 2011 no minister has been arrested in India for crime and corruption.

The film makes it very clear -- without the existence of Singham, the good cop, India has no hope. I wonder why no has thought of making him the president or the prime minister of the country!

The film opens with the big dramatic dance sequence celebrating our hero -- it feels like it is Holi, but it is not, as Devgn and the backup dancers strike a pose with as their hands becoming the claws of tigers.
The first half of the film takes its time in establishing Singham's character, his world, his romance with Kaavya Bhosle (Kajal Agarwal, a chirpy, but weak actress, who has a bad habit of rushing through her lines and strangely enough bears a slight resemblance to Devgn's wife Kajol).

In a long fight sequence, Singham beats up a fat bad guy who has snatched Kaavya's green dupatta. And she is so shamed by the dishonour that she wraps herself in a black dupatta.

There is the parallel story about Shikre, who makes money kidnapping rich people and has the protection of the Goa's top cops and politicians. But Singham and Shikre's path do not cross, until almost the intermission.
In the second half, Singham is posted to Goa -- as a punishment, where he is now in the world run by Shikre. He is frustrated and almost gives up hope. But just when he decides to leave, a depressed and overweight kid looks at Singham and begs him to stay back. "Uncle aap nahin hongey to yeh mummy ko marengey," the kid pleads with Singham.

The kid's mummy is Megha Kadam (Sonali Kulkarni), whose husband committed suicide in the opening sequences of the film, but all of that is too complicated to explain here.

Finally, Singham walks up to what looks like the entire Goa police force gathered with their families for a reception. He asks each of those cops to look into the eyes of their family members. Burdened with a sufficient sense of guilt, the reformed cops take off on 'mardon wallah kaam' to deal with Shikre, who by now has been elected for the political office. The method they chose to deal with Shikre may be unethical according to the Indian laws, but then it goes fine with the film's near anarchist attitude.

The dialogues are often hilarious, sometimes unintentionally. Singham to Shikre: "Tu corruption sey paiday hua gandi nalee ka keeda hai."
Shikre to Singham: "Yahan mera music system bajta hai!"
A jaded junior cop to Singham: "Main bhi yahan angry young man ban key aya tha. Lekin in logon ne mujhey Gandhi Ji ka bandar bana diya - na dekho, na bolo, na suno!"


The performances have Bollywood written all over them. Devgn is mostly a caricature of an action hero. His best moments are when he is really angry, gritting his teeth and cracking his knuckles as he gets ready to beat up the bad guys.

The real star of the film is the sound team. Singham is packed with a lot of bone crunching sounds, and loud action moments. Gone are the days when Bollywood films just featured dhishum-dhishum in the fight scenes. Now there is every possible jarring loud sound one hears, as Singham whips up the bad guys with his belts and smashes their bodies on the ground, against walls,.

The fights are long, painful and yet fun to watch. But I never understood why with all the beating they take from one man, none of the bad guys are even slightly injured. There is no bone broken, no cut, not even a bruise. There is violence and yet no after affect of violence. And I am sure that is fine for the Indian censors.

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