Blogger’s Paradise

*ing: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Arbaaz Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Tusshar Kapoor, Dia Mirza, Neha Dhupia, Aarti Chabria, Rohit Roy, Shabbir Ahluwalia and Aditya Lakhia.

Storyline: Apoorva Lakhia has a fascination for making stylistic films. His latest flick Shootout At Lokhandwala is a gritty recreation of the real-life shooting encounter between cops and gangsters in Mumbai in 1991.

The film has a very raw and rugged look. At times it gets surreally dark and very violent. And after a while all the bloodshed and gore begin to get to you.

The film is not just about the shootout incident on the fateful summer day in Lokhandwala in 1991. It goes deep into the lives and minds of gangsters Maya Dolas, his sidekick Dilip Buwa and their three colleagues. It also focuses on the way cops function to nab the dreaded criminals, putting their own lives on the line.

One good thing about ‘Shootout’ is that it doesn’t take sides. It attempts to objectively present the facts of the incident, along with the events leading to it, from both the perspectives of cops and gangsters.

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Finally, the trailer of the Fifth movie has been released. Ofcourse, I can’t wait for July 13th 2007, just like many others!

Frankly speaking, I think the 3rd movie, Prisoner of Azkaban was the best. I didn’t really like the book ‘Order of the Phoenix’ much, but I guess the story provides good material for a movie. So..the movie will still be worth a watch. I would love to see how the 6th book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince looks like on silver screen - especially the last part where Dumbledore dies.

I have read on various websites that JK Rowling has finished writing more than half of the last book which is slated for realease in 2007 too. Let’s see when it actually comes out in the market! I will reserve a copy before-hand for sure. Till now, my personal favorite is the Sixth One- Half Blood Prince. I think the last one should be the best! It will be interesting if Harry Potter actually dies (and Ron and Hermione get together..which I think they will!)

*ing: Shahid Kapur, Amrita Rao, Anupam Kher, Seema Biswas, Alok Nath, Sameer Soni, Manoj Joshi, Mohnish Behl, Jatin Siyal
Direction: Sooraj R. Barjatya

Storyline: BOY MEETS girl. The engagement follows. They talk and, well, they talk. And talk (oh yes, they sing some forgettable songs too, but not 17 of them). For almost three hours of the ’story’, which unfolds Sooraj R. Barjatya’s ‘journey from engagement to marriage’, boy and girl talk. Till, of course, Barjatya decides to give the story a kind of ‘twist’ that you thought went past its expiry date after Hum Aapke Hain Koun.

Have you ever been tired watching a movie? Not sleepy, not bored - plain tired. Vivah will leave you tired, nothing less. Tired of simple boys from rich families who would never dream of going around killing waitresses at bars over a drink (but then, may be that’s because they don’t exist). Tired of pretty, innocent girls who probably think birds and bees are all about the garden where they traipse around, mooning over shaadi and stuff like that. Tired of all that Bharatiya culture and tradition spiel that has been discovered, rediscovered, re-rediscovered so many times on the Rajshri screen.

Hang me if you think I am anti-Bharatiya culture and tradition (which I’m certainly not), but I am plain tired of the grind. It is Sooraj Barjatya’s Disneyland-ish utopia where everyone is innocent and pure. Where the odd evil chachi learns her lesson finally It is a utopia that doesn’t have a resident address anywhere in the Bharat I have known (you know, the family that eats together, sits together and sings together… blah). It has kept returning to tire you in every Sooraj Barjatya film since Maine Pyaar Kiya. It returns in Vivah.

In Vivah, Shahid Kapur is Prem, humble inheritor of Delhi’s biggest business family Amrita Rao is Poonam, Prem ki deewani and an orphan from middle-class Mathura. Prem thinks he is not ready for marriage, his dad (Anupam Kher) tells him to give it a shot. So Prem and Poonam are engaged. As they converse, they get to know each other and find a soulmate in the other. Of course, just when you were thinking where’s the story in all this, the second half brings a crisis that will test their love.

Okay, even Hum Aapke Hain Koun didn’t have much of a story. At least that 17-song shaadi ka video had Madhuri Dixit and her choli-less back. The girls freaked over Salman Khan, and all of it was packeted in a way that appeared fresh 12 years ago. The problem with Vivah is that the packet doesn’t sell anymore. Shahid tries hard to fit into Salman’s shoes. As an actor he is good, but he simply lacks the charisma. Amrita Rao is all sugar and syrup don’t blame her, that’s all there is to her role.

If Barjatya was trying to be differently innocent in an era when even Karan Johar is romancing the extra-marital, it doesn’t work. Simply because his Vivah is like an unending family soap that goes on and on. May be it’s finally time to change track, Sooraj babu.

*ing: Jackie Shroff, Suniel Shetty, Riteish Deshmukh, Shreyas Talpade, Riya Sen, Koena Mitra, Celina Jaitley
Direction: Sangeeth Sivan

Storyline: THE THING about brainless slapstick is that you either love it or loathe it. Served without apologies and by throwing political correctness out of the window, below-the-belt humour can be the stuff for random guilty bliss in the dark confines of the theatre. Or, alternately, stuff that makes you squirm at what showbiz is coming to.

Sangeeth Sivan’s Apna Sapna Money Money fits both definitions that way - you can love it or loathe it, depending on how you look at it. Sivan, who tasted Bollywood blood by way of the equally nonsensical Kya Kool Hain Hum last year, goes no-holds barred with his new film. Clearly, he knows the game well enough by now - he goes the whole hog with cheap thrills to keep the gag quotient rolling. A hero in drag, heroines in itsy-bitsy skimpies, vil lains that spoof every Bollywood clich, crass dialogue, a dog that is smarter than most of the humans in the cast - it is one madcap rollercoaster that director Sivan unleashes.

The little that the film unfolds by way of a story broadly borrows from Brij Sadanah’s 1972 comedy Victoria No. 203. Like that Ashok Kumar-Pran starrer, it’s all about precious diamonds hidden away somewhere. Everyone in the cast wants a piece of the stones naturally Any resemblance to. Victoria No. 203, however, ends with the thematic similarity Apna Sapna… is neither loyal to logic, nor does the film make an attempt at being pathbreaking comedy.

Sivan’s cast is a merry bunch of morons sold on chasing big money: a dreamy-eyed mechanic (Shreyas Talpade), a conman who is also a master of disguises (Riteish Deshmukh), a hottie club dancer (Koena Mitra), an honest cop (Suniel Shetty), an irritatingly clownish father (Anupam Kher) and his demure daughter (Riya Sen, surprisingly all covered up in this film), a tabela waala (Rajpal Yadav) with a Sarkar hangover (yes, Sarkar as in the Big B), a stupid Nepalese gangster (Chunkey Pandey), a don who tries his best to look menacing (Jackie Shroff), and his moll who tries her best to look sexy (Celina Jaitley). They are all chasing the diamonds.

Crass it is - still, the film could have been hilarious, if the climax was more deftly handled. Sadly, the finale, supposedly funny, fails to evoke the required laughs. In an era when mindless mazaa has mostly spelt quick bucks at the box-office, Apna Sapna… looks like a safe bet. Only, it is like streetside junk food, served bindaas. If you don’t mind the fact that it doesn’t fill your appetite, you certainly won’t complain giving the film a dekko.

*ing: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Shabana Azmi, Suniel Shetty
Director: JP Dutta
Storyline: A courtesan and a poetess in her own right, Umrao Jaan was a name to be reckoned with in any description of life in Avadh. If Lucknow was the heart of Avadh, Umrao, alias Amiran, was the heart-beat. Amiran, who hailed from a lower middleclass family, came to Lucknow when she was just eight years old. Khannum’s kotha was not only an important centre of entertainment in Lucknow but was also known for teaching performing arts. Little Amiran grows up there and Khannum gives her the name Umrao. Bua Hussaini brings her up in style, Khan Sahib grooms her into the world of music while the great Kathak Acharya teaches her the steps. With the penname Ada, she develops a flair for poetry. Graduating in years, Umrao becomes a rage in Lucknow.

USP:Besides the lead pair, Aishwarya and Abhishek, the film scores high on screenplay.

• Shabana Azmi plays the character of Khannum, which was played by her mother Shaukat Azmi in Muzaf far Ali’s Umrao Jaan. Interestingly, this time Shaukat herself bought Shabana’s clothes.
• Divya Dutta’s character Bismillah, who is Khannum’s daughter, was not there in the first version.
• Bindiya Dutta and Bijon Dasgupta, the art directors, sourced the furni ture, used in the film, from the an tique markets of Lucknow.
• Ayesha Julka and Divya Dutta had a fight during the shooting. Initially, both the actresses got along very well but later they fought over costume and makeup.

*ing: Sanjay Suri, Jimmy Shergill, Juhi Chawla, Urmila Matondkar, Rehaan Engineer
Director: Onir
Storyline: Five people bound inextricably by an incident that changes their lives forever that’s Bas Ek Pal for you. Set in Mumbai, the film explores the complexities of urban relationships. Each character has a secret. It is a journey of revelations, passions, jealousies, insecurities, love and anger, as each character searches for that elusive moment of happiness. To begin with, Juhi plays the role of Ira Malhotra, a former Miss India who seeks to end her failed marriage but cannot because her husband, Steeve (Rehaan Engineer) threatens to kill himself if she leaves him.

Cut to Anamika (Urmila Matondkar), who meets Nikhil (Sanjay Suri) at a pub one night. An instant chemistry sparks off between them. However, she disappears without even telling him her name. Nikhil starts to visit the pub regularly hoping to meet her again. Finally, one night when he visits the club with Rahul (Jimmy Shergill) who is with Anamika’s husband, and Steve (Rehaan Engineer), he finds her there. An altercation takes place, leading to a scuffle. Soon a shot is fired. Time stands still as Nikhil realises that he is holding a gun in his hand, the gun from which the shot has just been fired. This moment would change all their lives.

USP: A young story from the present times. Juhi plays a grey character for the first time.

• Juhi Chawla says, Ira, the character she plays is one of the most intricate she has ever played.
• Each character in the film has been given a certain hade. For instance, Juhi wears shades of blue and even the background colour changes to blue when she makes an appearance.
• Similarly, Urmila is in shades of burnt orange. Among the boys, Sanjay is seen red, while Jimmy dons the white.