Hostel
Derek Richardson
Eythor Gudjonsson
Where rich men “buy” other humans and play with them for pleasure and excitement.
The performances are not worth talking about because all that’s needed to do is to look aroused in the first half and scream in the other as the film is purely plot based.
Ek Chalis ki Last Local
Directed by: Sanjay Khandoori
*ing: Abhay Deol
Neha Dhupia
And many more immensely colourful and entertaining characters.
Rating: [6/10]
Nilesh and Nilya (Abhay Deol) to his friends, the average call center employ misses his last local at 1:40 am from Kurla because he was idiotically drinking beer with his colleagues after work. He is shooed away from the platform by a tobacco spitting constable as the next local fom Kurla to Vikhroli is at 4:10 am, a good 2 and a half hours later.
These eventful 2 and half hours transform Nilesh in to a billionaire. The incidents and situations which arise leading to the climax are entertaining and nail-biting through out. But will he succeed in finally taking the bag full of money home?
With only Rs.70 in his off-white trouser pocket, he sets out on a walk to his destination – Vikhroli as no other means of transport is available. Here he finds an all-decked-up doll Madhu (Neha Dhupia), who claims to be returning from an engagement function and on her way to Vikhroli too. Unable to find anything else safer, they enter a Bar to kill time and drink more beer, where certain freak events lead to an edge-of-the-seat, spell binding entertainer. Revealing too much here will of course, kill the film's objective.
From playing cards to escaping being killed by a dwarf-gangster, from saving himself being encountered by cops to being rescued from sleeping with a gay-don, he does it all!!
What is surprising is that this package is entertaining, refreshing and fun through out, without bearing a hint of staleness in regard to plot, story or execution. Everything about this film is original and that is immensely commendable.
Ek Chalis ki Last Local is a vividly dark comedy in every aspect, which is not what we get too see in Bollywood too often. It has everything a dark Mumbai-night can offer – murder, accidents, prostitutes, kidnapping, dons, gambling, encounters, corrupt cops and sleepy eunuchs! And not to forget… LOVE!
For those who have enjoyed previous affairs like Bad Boys2, Borat, Honeymoon travels Ltd. and the recent Bheja fry, will definitely enjoy the slapstick, goofy humour offered by this well-intended film.
The main reasons that turns this not so great film in to a good one, are the splendid character-based performances.
Abhay Deol as Nilesh delivers the exact next-door-guy kinda performance required for such a film. Believe me he is the best Deol on the block right now. He is subtle, funny and immediately lovable.
Neha Dhupia as Madhu fits the bill with perfection, adding the required glamour factor. She is super in the scene, where she reveals her true self to Nilesh in the jugle!
Apart from the lead cast, it is the supporting cast, which give this film its true flavour. There are a range of classic performances to fervor. Vinay Apte as Ponappa, the short malayali don is excellent. Snehal Dhabi as Habiba the eunuch is so believable that you forget he is the funny shooter from Satya. Deepak Shirke as Mangesh Chilka is a surprise package, watch out for him in the mind-blowing pre-climax scenes with Abhay deol.
Above all stands Ashok Samarth as Inspector Malvankar. He is A-grade as the corrupt, irritated, short-tempered and no-nonsense cop. You start believing, the director has shot an actual cop with a hidden cam.
Sanjay Khandoori has struck with his slapstick, goofy, enjoyable and inevitably funny, one-night-stand directorial debut.
You will enjoy it but will also not take anything home from it. Its one of those mindless, speechless entertainers.
Go for this Last Local, it is a fun, frolic and adventure ride all the way!
- Abbas Aziz Dalal.
Shootout at Lokhandwala
Directed by: Apoorva Lakhiya
*ing: Sanjay Dutt
Vivek Oberoi (he has returned to his old spelling from Viveik)
Suneil Shetty
Arbaaz Khan
Tushhar Kapoor
Shabbir Ahluwalia
Etc etc etc
Rating: [5/10]
Ex-Justice Dhingra (Amitabh Bachchan) whimpers and barks as ACP A. A. Khan (Sanjay Dutt) and his colleagues [Sunil Shetty as Kaviraj Patil; Arbaaz Khan as Javed Shaikh] from ATS (Anti Terrorist Squad) sit before him and relive the complete 6-hour shootout at Lokhandwala and the events that led to it.
Claiming to be based on "true rumours" and very close to the actual 90's shootout, the film is as close to reality as India is to Uzbekistan. It is commercial, stylish, heroic and entertaining that life isn't!
The movie starts off with the dreadful scenes of the shootout venue being cleaned and washed off the blood and brains that are spilled all over the place, by Khan and his comrades.
According to the "true rumours" doing the rounds, the film is not only the shootout but it actually builds up to the coveted shootout which is only the final and the most rocking 30 minutes of the film.
Maya Dolas (Vivek Oberoi) and his gang [Shabbir Ahluwalia as RC; Rohit Roy as Fatim (Fatoo); Aditya Lakhia as Doubling] operating under BHAI from Dubai join hands with the dreaded shooter Bhuwa (Tushhar Kapoor) to spread terror in the then west-Bombay. Scenes like Maya's entry where he emerges from the auto-rickshaw, dancing slowly and ends up killing a target in the noisy procession give you a hard-core adrenaline pump! Also when Maya and his buddies barge in to Dagdi Chawl and kill Gawli's men is jaw dropping and gruesome. Apart from a couple of well choreographed action scenes, the sense of styling, a couple great performances and the climatic shootout, the film actually has NOTHING new or refreshing to offer. It in fact bores you to an extent where you want the shootout to just happen and then it does which is the ultimate highlight of this so called realistic movie. The final shootout is not very close to the actual one at Lokhandwala but it is entertaining no doubt. All the gangsters including Maya are eliminated in very unique manners. The action is gripping and gross. Whereas in reality, all the Maya's men were shot dead with guns and not by any other means (especially not by hand).
Of the performances, Vivek Oberoi will steal your heart once again after Company. I had personally started hating him but no more. He will remind of Chandru from company but with a very nasty, sarcastic and stylish twist. He emerges as the clear winner here. He is especially great in the close-up shots. Look out for him when he is talking to BHAI on the phone with a very respectful but sarcastic tone. He is A-Grade.
Sanjay Dutt as A. A. Khan is superb. He is ruthless, sensitive, courageous and gutsy, just as we can imagine the actual cop must have been. Arbaaz and Suneil are like-able and pass muster, so do Maya's dudes.
Amitabh Bachchan as Dhingra packs a punch in the tailor-made, extended role as always!
The sorest and the most pathetic drawback of this enterprise is Tushshar kapoor as Bhuwa, he fails with his dialogue delivery as well as his expressions. As the dangerous shooter, he couldn't scare a goat. Casting him turns out to be the biggest blunder other than commercializing the whole shootout.
I will not say Shootout at Lokhandwala is a bad film. It has ample style, loads of attitude and glossy class but it lacks any kind of plot, story or screenplay.
Shootout is the same old wine but in a very new, shiny, attractive and fake bottle.
- Abbas Aziz Dalal.
Rating: [8/10]
It took Vidhu Vinod Chopra 5 years to write Eklavya and its worth all the 1825 days of ink, paper, sweat and brains!
Eklavya transports you to the vivid land of Rajasthan, where the Local Rana (Boman Irani, splendid) still considers himself the king even though democracy prevails. Eklavya, the royal guard (Amitabh Bachchan, however unbelievable it may sound this is his best performance till date. In some scenes, you just can't look straight into his eyes! You deserve the Rolce Royce Mr. Bachchan!!) is endowed with the responsibility to protect and safeguard the so called king and his kingdom just like his previous 9 generations have been blindly abiding.
Jackie Shroff as the Rana's hamming, jarring brother and Jimmy Shergill as his wannabe-royal son fit the bill with perfection. They bring about the required menace, darkness and sarcasm to the premiere storyline with a small but irreplaceably tremendous cast.
Sanjay Dutt as Inspector Chauvhan is so superbly refreshing that we forget he plays Munnabhai in another Chopra Production. He also succeeds in providing the required doses of subtle humour.
The film commences with a very unpredictable twist and climaxes with a very predictable one.
What lies in between forms the crux of this miniature masterpiece. The film never lets you leave your seat, even in the interval you don't want to go grab a samosa with the fear of missing a minute. Its darkly intriguing through out with a genuinely original plot. Eklavya mesmerizes you with some superbly crafted scenes. You will keep blinking till you believe when hundreds of camels run along the train kicking up a virtual sandstorm or when Eklavya plunges the cinema hall into darkness with only his ears alert at work. Eklavya isn't your usual pot-boiler but it's still a story of betrayal, deception, jealousy, lust, revenge and love. It comprises of all the usual elements without becoming into a usual film.
The cinematography is breath-takingly A-grade, capturing the barren and beautiful Rajasthan and the Rana's Spooky mahal with grace; the editing is swift and the background score sharply contributes to the ongoings.
Just like the Title, the film too belongs to Mr. Bachchan. He becomes Eklavya.
Saif Ali Khan as Harshwardan is intensely controlled and adds certain royal mannerisms to his performance making it astoundingly original. Where Eklavya loses its grip slightly and two browny points is when the screenplay gets slightly sloppy after the interval and the okie-dokie half-baked romance angle between Harshwardan and Rajjo (Vidya Balan, eye candy). You either make it piping hot or don't make them fall in love at all Mr.Chopra.
Eklavya will blow you away with its plot and the way it is executed and elaborated by the director's witty creativity. You will fall in Lav with Eklavya as soon as you take your first step out of the theater. Go catch this vibrantly entertaining Rajasthan Express which lasts only about 105 minutes and you won't come out unentertained. The message is clear and the medium of message couldn't be more entertaining.
It certainly is Indian cinema at its best.
VOLVER
Directed by: Pedro Almodovar
*ing: Penelope Cruz
Carmen Maura
Lola Duenas
Rating: {9/10}
The Academy Award Winning veteran 'Pedro Almodovar' strikes again with yet another 'woman centric' film and it successfully hits the right intentions and emotions all the way as always.
Volver is "coming back" or "to return" in Spanish and the film stays true to its name.
It commences with the very Spanish Raimunda (Cruz) and her daughter, visiting her native village and her very old (both legs hanging in the grave) aunt, who claims that she is being taken care of by Raimunda's long dead mother, Irene (Carmen Maura).
Puzzled and slightly spooked, Raimunda returns to her city life, unemployed abusive husband and her petty job. After a couple of unwanted incidents and circumstances, Irene is suddenly found in the boot of Sole's (Lola, Raimunda's Sister). She starts staying with Sole and claims it as her "return". From here on the characters and the story itself builds up into a confusing whirlwind of emotions, secrets, revelations and shocking truths.
It takes another wild twist as Raimunda's dying village neighbour asks her for the last favour, which she finds very weird indeed.
Those who are familiar with Pedro's films will realize I have already given away too much.
Volver is an intelligent and very sensitive take on relationships, exploitation, patience and love in general. It also proves that "women" are best at all these emotions and more. It will keep you at the very extreme edge of your sofa (no seat coz it's not playing in the theaters anymore). It will also keep you irritatingly guessing about Irene's existence. Is she a ghost or is it all a hallucination or is every one simply insane?
All that you will need is a little more patience as the director pops open all the cards in a very sensitive and elegant chat-on-the-bench scene in the climax. It will leave you speechless, shocked and much more relaxed.
Penelope who was nominated for The Best Actor for this very role proves once again that she is one of the most talented and sensitive actors around. She is splendid as the no-nonsense, short tempered and clean-at-heart Raimunda. Her cleavage plays an equally important part as well, never being out of any possible shot.
Carmen excels as well as the spooky, mysterious Irene who haunts, helps and loves.
Volver is a movie that will stay with you long after you have switched off your DVD player. How do I say this?
It will keep "VOLVERING" back to you!
I recommend it and rent it. QUICK!
-Abbas Dalal.[feedback will be genuinely appreciated. thanks.]
Directed by: Larry Charles
*ing: Sacha Boran Cohen
Ken Devitian
Rating: [10/10]
Nothing much, can be said about Borat as it does not possess a so-called specific plot, storyline or message. It is simply a weird, gross, naughty and sinful pleasure at the movies!
Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Boran Cohen, also known as Ali G) is a very popular journalist in Kazakhstan, who is gifted a trip to the USA by the government to benefit his homeland with the modern and useful culture, he can learn from the Americans.
Thus, Borat sets off with his obese producer Azamat Bagatov (Ken Devitian) on a mind blowing adventure to the US of A!
What follows are hilarious, crazy and sometimes grossly inventive circumstances as Borat travels all through America and meets people from all walk of life.
He tries to impress a stand up comedian with cheap "handicap" jokes, interviews old women, sings at the Rodeo, fights and chases his producer (both fully naked) all over the hotel with an exaggerated black box censoring Borat's pubic area, drives a minibus interstate, buys fuel worth 17 cents, brings a prostitute as date for dinner and falls head over heels for Pamela Anderson. I cannot mention all he does because there is so much crap he does!
The director claims all the scenes where Borat creates havoc are really shot without disclosing Borat's identity and are not enacted. I fail to agree though as some of them do look staged, especially Pamela groping scene!!!Sacha Boran Cohen as Borat is amazingly vivid, funny, believable and goofy! He becomes the part with ease and also adds that crazy accent which takes time to get used to. You can't help yourself but fall in love with him from the first reel. Ken Devitian as the lazy, obese producer lives up to Borat's enthusiasm and vibrancy.
For me (I make this very personal), Borat is the most amazing, weird, entertaining and goofy comedy I have EVER seen.
Borat will make you experience the messaging phenomenon 'LOL' (laugh out loud for nerds) for REAL. You will laugh till it hurts unless you are strictly vegetarian!
Get Borat and I guarantee, you will make a copy of the DVD to keep forever…
-Abbas Dalal.Life in a… Metro
Directed By: Anurag Basu
*ing: Shilpa Shetty
Konkana Sen Sharma
Irrfan Khan
Kay Kay Menon
Sharman Joshi
Kangana Ranaut
Shiney Ahuja
Woof!
Standing uniquely apart from this relationship-bhendi-masala is Debu (Irrfan) who likes Shruti but its only one way.
There’s also a sensitive, heart-felt oldie romance going on between old-school sweethearts Amol (Dharmendra) and Vaijanti (Nafisa Ali) who is also Shikha’s ex-dance master.
As you must have realized, all the characters though poles apart are inevitably inter-connected. Though this might look highly confusing and time-consuming, Basu successfully manages to wrap up the proceedings in a neat 2 hour package. He also succeeds in giving every character, story and plot ample space and equal time to develop beautifully.Metro is more true to real life than any other film I have seen this year. Its sincere, sensitive, passionate, cold and unfair just like life itself. It will especially steal your heart in some superbly crafted and enacted scenes. Like when Rahul lends his home to his seniors for one-night stands or the scene where Akash and Shikha get a little too close in a dimly neon-lit room. Also the light-hearted confession scene between Shruti and Debu at
The music by Pritam’s Band Metro which pops up at any given circumstance bursting into a song (concept copied from There’s something about Marry) is hot and cold all the way.
Metro’s highest advantage that works, is the textbook star cast.Kanaga is eye candy with a cute north accent. Sharman and Shiney blend in instantly like sugar in to the story. Dharmendra and Nafisa Ali are likeable.
Now, the best performances come from Konkona and Irrfan which isn’t surprising.
Konkona as the 28 year old virgin is so damn loveable that you wanna marry her immeditaely. Irrfan as the 30+ deaperate-to-marry Debu is natural and unintentionally funny.
Metro, despite being very true to LIFE is also extremely entertaining. Anurag Basu has proved that he is one of the most smartest and sensitive director around.
Grab a big bag of popcorn and go get a LIFE…
