Review: Snatch

Snatch (2000)

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

*ing: Jason Statham
Stephen Graham
Alan Ford
Benicio Del Toro
Rade Serbedzija
Dennis Ferina
Mike Reid
Brad Pitt

Rating: ****1/2

I had been recommended Snatch umpteen number of times by a couple of friends and strangers.
Somehow, the idea of a heavy British comedy about diamonds did not excite my enthusiasm much.
With nothing to do off late and a copy of Snatch lying with me, I went through it to kill time.

What pleasantly surprised me was its ability to be more than a time-killer. Much, much more.

Guy Ritchie has taken a handful of colourful characters, a fizzy plot, the beautiful London as backdrop and made a hell of a movie out of them.

To start with, Turkish (Jason Statham) and Tommy (Stephen Graham) are unlicensed-boxing agents working as partners. They’re hired by a tough cookie Brick Top (Alan Ford) who wants their man to loose illegally in the fourth round so that his clients win their bets.

Meanwhile Frank Four Fingers (Benicio Del Toro) has just burgled an 84 carat diamond that has invited the interests of a Russian gun dealer Boris ‘The Blade’ (Rade Serbedzija), jeweler Doug ‘The Head’ (Mike Reid) and his American based Cousin Avi (Dennis Farina).
Boris hires conmen Vincent (Robbie Gee) and Sol (Lennie James) to get him the diamond whereas Doug and Avi hire a hilarious hit man, Bullet Tooth Toney (Vinnie Jones) towards the climax to get matters finished.

Here the boxer representing Turkish is knocked down in one punch by the crazy gypsy Mickey (Brad Pitt) in a street fight and now it’s Mickey himself who’ll have to step in the ring as proxy.

Now, how these obviously mad characters, the diamond, the mafia, the gypsies and a stupid dog get involved in to a hell-tangle of a plot is amazingly executed. Who gets the diamond in the end being the mammoth question!

The proceedings are blessed with so many amusing twists and turns that it’s impossible to put them on paper. It is an experience you have to fervor.

The screenplay (Guy Ritchie) doesn’t arouse one slightly boring millisecond and the editing (Jon Harris), dialogues (Guy Ritchie) are super slick. London is beautifully captured by Tim Maurice-Jones.

Jason Statham proves he can emote and Stephen Graham as his partner is fantastic.
Alan Ford as the fast-talking gangster is outstanding. He’s also endowed with the best lines in the film.

Benecio Del Toro has very little to do but shines through.
Rade Serbedzija as the official Russian is a delight to watch along with Mike Reid and the super-frustrated Dennis Ferinia. Vinnie Jones come right in the dying hours and creates havoc.

Above all rises Brad Pitt as a dirty, filthy gypsy with an accent that no one can understand. His timing is perfect, his body language immaculate and his lines tactfully delivered. He is the Ace in this pack of wicked characters.

Guy Ritchie has successfully achieved what he set out to make. A mad-colourful-hilarious comedy.
In fact it is so entertaining that it might exhaust you.
A final advice though, watch it with subtitles to understand 90% of the film.

- Abbas Aziz Dalal.

Review: Omkara

Omkara (2006)

Directed by: Vishal Bharadwaj

*ing: Ajay Devgan
Saif Ali Khan
Viveik Oberoi
Kareena Kapoor
Konkana Sen Sharma

Rating: ****

Several attempts we have witnessed when seasoned film makers strive hard to make a realistic, hard-hitting film. But we also witness, the way they falter just before they reach that final step to vivid reality in a bid to please all the strata’s of viewers – the reality lovers, the front benchers, the whistlers and the dreamers.

With Omkara, Vishal Bharadwaj goes all the way. He achieves what he set out to and doesn’t at all falter in the process in order to charm viewers in to the theater.

Bhaisaab (Naseruddin Shah) is the godfather to the local village don Omkara/Omi (Ajay Devgan). On his persistence and due to arrival of certain unforeseen circumstances, Omi has to choose his successor among his two trusted comrades – the limping, Langda Tyagi (Saif Ali Khan) and the handsome village dude, Keshu Phirangi (Viveik Oberoi).

While Langda is too sure shot of himself, Omi instead opts for Keshu and crowns him amidst a magnanimous crowd of villagers. They celebrate and chant, Langda joins in, sarcastically.
The fire of vengeance, hatred and jealousy is instantly ignited in the heart of the already inferior Langda. While he still worships Omi, he spins an evil yarn around him, his fiancé Dolly (Kareena Kapoor) and Keshu.

Omi’s unconditional love for his so called mistress converts into dangerous possessiveness. He smells foul between Dolly and Keshu (who is also Dolly’s college mate by chance) thanks to Langda’s evil, creative antics and his wife Indu’s (Konkana) detailed assistance.

Here on, Omkara climbs uphill and reaches its predictable but explosive climax.

Egos clash, minds race, truths unveil and blood flows. It sticks to the original “Othello” by William Shakespeare but doesn’t miss out on being truly original itself in regard to treatment, premise and characterization.

The sets are brilliantly real, the casting is mouth watering, the editing (Meghna Manchanda) is swift, and the dialogues (Vishal Bharadwaj) drip with authenticity which are understandable only after 15 minutes of concentrated viewing. Tassaduq Hussain captures the brilliant back drops efficiently and the screenplay (Vishal Bharadwaj, Robin Bhatt, Abhishek Chaubhey) doesn’t let you relax for a millisecond.
The music by Bharadwaj again has the scent of the film rubbed in. Super.

You rub your eyes with astonishment after seeing Saif Ali Khan’s first 5 minutes on screen and wonder if he’s the same metro-sexual dude from Salaam Namaste. This is by far and far, his best performance to date. He portrays the jealousy, hatred, inferiority complex and the complexities in his mind with such panache that you want to kill him.
This film belongs to him.

Ajay Devgan plays the pivotal title role to perfection. Confidently mixing the difficult blend of leadership, courage, vulnerability, love, possessiveness and sensitivity into one believable character
Kareena’s love and star-struck Dolly makes you laugh and cry simultaneously. She is vividly and instantly loveable.
Konkana Sen Sharma plays the strong loyal village woman to the hilt supporting her husband’s deeds without question or objection.

Viveik Oberoi sticks out like a sore thumb. He is the only one in the frame who is completely out of form and should look for an alternative career. Fishing may be!

A special mention, for the enigmatic Deepak Dobriyal, who is Langda’s only favourite man. Why doesn’t such amazing talent get recognized more often?

After Maqbool, I could seldom imagine a more hard-hitting, realistic and honest take on Shakespeare’s works. Omkara is the answer. Vishal Bharadwaj spins a mammothly impressive master-piece out of Shakespeare’s fictitious and un-real characters.
Do I see Mr. William smiling?

- Abbas Aziz Dalal

Review: Chokher Bali

Chokher Bali (Sand in the Eye) [2003]

Directed by: Rituparno Ghosh

*ing: Prosenjit Chatterjee
Tota Raychaudhuri
Aishwarya Rai
Raima Sen
Lily Chakrabarti

Rating: ****

We have witnessed innumerable attempts by filmmakers worldwide striving to bring the sensitivity and hard-ships of the widows of the pre-independence era, on screen. Though most of them do succeed to an extent, this premise still attracts many more. One such exemplary effort is Chokher Bali, a remake of Tagore’s novel and Satu Sen’s 1938 super-classic of the same name. Other than sympathy, mercy and revolution, this film succeeds in arousing much more.

Set between 1902 and 1905, Rituparno Ghosh illustrates Tagore’s characters beautifully in this dramatic tale of luscious deceptions and relationship manipulations.

We are straightaway introduced to Binodini (Aishwarya Rai) who is denied marriage by a high society Brahmin Doctor - Mahendra (Prosenjit Chatterjee) because he isn’t ready for it yet. She marries another man out of emergency who sadly, dies within a year. Widowed and slapped by fate, she starts living a dull, meaningless life in her village.

Meanwhile, its celebrations in Kolkata as Mahendra marries Ashalata (Raima Sen) who was supposed to be marrying Mahendra’s cousin Bihari (Tota Raychaudhuri) till Mahendra intervened. Bihari still stores feelings for his sister in-law but hides them for his family’s sake.

On the other hand Mahendra’s mother Rajlakshmi (Lily Chakrabarti) visits her village and gets Binodini along with her to her majestic then-Calcutta home as a maid and daily help.

It’s now on that relationships, love and faith spiral out of control into lust, deception and adultery. Binodini and Ashalata instantly bond to become best friends and fondly nickname each other “Chokher Bali”. While, Binodini being deprived of physical needs is easily smitten by the only two men she is close to at home, Mahendra and Bihari. Mahendra lusts for her equally but Bihari though fond of her has sweared celibacy. Mahendra and Binodini get involved in a whirlwind affair and eventually fall in love as Ashalata continues to blindly trust Binodini and her husband as well.

Finally as the secrets tumble out of the closet and circumstances arise, Binodini rushes to Bihari for forgiveness and acceptance. The rest of the film unfolds in the holy city of Kashi where decisions are made and truths are revealed. Binodini on the other hand remains irritatingly indecisive about her future, her needs and her intentions till the very end
Despite Binodini’s crafty antics and attempts at seducing men, she doesn’t come across as a clichéd negative character. This is the director’s forte and Tagore’s magic.

The great Rabindranath Tagore had exclaimed “I have always regretted the ending of Chokher Bali” on 24^th June, 1940. Personally, I think the climax is as perfect as they come.

Chokher Bali is a film about changing relationships and temptations. It proves that a person can be in love with more than one at a time. It’s also a saga of a widow who refuses to surrender to her cultural norms and society’s regulations. It is also a glimpse in to the rich Bengali culture and its pre-evolution era, where drinking tea by a widow was considered a sin

The only low-points of this mini-classic are its sloppy editing and the not so perfect dubbing that leaves much more to be desired. A film of this class deserves equal technical expertise.

Aishwarya Rai as the widow who breaks all the rules is brilliantly honest. Her bold and rebellious portrayal is effective to a great extent till she herself gets entangled in her previous helpless characters as in Taal and Devdas. She slightly struggles to balance the scale between a sympathy seeker and a nymphomaniac but succeeds for the most of it.

Prosenjit Chatterjee is competently contrived and displays the under-tones of a confused man with grace. Tota Raychaudhari and Lily Chakrabarti are picture perfect.

Its Raima Sen though who towers above all else as the dumb, lovely and innocent village dame. She is so immensely likeable that everything else doesn’t matter. Her dilemmas between choosing her best friend or her husband come across with precision and impact.

Chokher Bali is not a fun-filled potboiler but portrayal of Tagore’s wonderful literature on celluloid.
It is highly recommended cinema but strictly for the niche and discerning viewer. Step down “Closer”, “Chokher Bali” is here.

- Abbas Aziz Dalal.

Review: Babel

Babel (2006)

Directed by: Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu

*ing: Brad Pitt
Cate Blanchett
Mohamed Akhzam
Said Tarchani
Boubker Ait El Caid
Adriana Barraza
Gael Garcia Bernal
Rinko Kikuchi and a million others.

Rating: ****1/2

Named after the “tower of Babel” mentioned in the holy Bible, Babel is a saga spanning across four continents.
Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu is back to what he does best. A handful of stories intertwined with a common, basic factor. In, Amores Perros (Life’s a Bitch, his first and best film to date) it was dogs and a car crash and in Babel, it’s a shot gun and everyday human tragedy.
Although Babel is not as spectacular as Amores perros, it is definitely a classic in its own right. After all, it would be stupid to keep chasing Amores perros for a successor.

The film commences in the rugged North Africa, Morocco to be precise. A local shepherd (Mohammed) purchases an old, smuggled shot gun to keep the wolves at bay. He hands the gun over to his sons Ahmed (Said Tarchani) and Yussef (Boubker Ait El Caid), drenched in authenticity with dirt, sweat and masturbation in the desert. They fool around idiotically trying to figure the better shooter; till Yussef lets one loose on a tourist bus he spots from the cliff. What happens here after in these villager’s lives is too shocking to reveal.

Boom! It’s Susan (Cate Blanchett) who is shot through the bus’ glass window. Her vacation to Morocco with her husband Richard (Brad Pitt) now seems jinxed. They had considered this as their “time away” from their monotonous lives to work out their dying marriage. It’s Susan who might die now. With nowhere to go and thousands of miles away from any sight of a developed structure, they’re compelled to take refuge in a local village doctor’s stuffy home. Does she survive the gruesome wound, the barren country and unforeseen circumstances?

Shift to the U.S.A., where Richard and Susan’s kids are being taken care of by their Mexican nanny Amelia (Adriana Barraza) who desperately wants to visit New Mexico for a family wedding. Denied by Richard, she indulges in foul play as she does visit New Mexico but also takes the kids along. It’s her nephew Santiago (Gael Garcia Barnel) who does the honours of driving them across the border. But it’s when they are returning back to the States when tragedy strikes. Nanny, Santiago and kids are considered illegal immigrants which lead to dangerous circumstances.

Fly to Tokya, where a deaf and mute school girl Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) cannot connect with the rest of the world or her father. The deafening music in a discotheque, the giggling girls, the fast-speaking hunks, none of this makes any sense to her. She is like a dog on Pluto. What is so touching about her is her vulnerability in this sad-bad world. She’s also sex-starved and extremely desperate to loose her virginity. From flashing in public to arousing a cop at her apartment, she tries every possible measure to get laid. But there’s more than that meats the eye. There lies a buried secret, between her father and her. A secret about their lives, their tragedies and “the blessed gun”; which is unraveled at the very climax of the climax.

What works for Babel is its massive appeal and honest execution. Also, the way the director handles such a complex concept with delicate finesse is highly commendable.

The camerawork and cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto) are world class. Taking effeicient advantage of the beautiful landscapes, flashing neon-lights, glittering deserts and rugged backdrops, the various locations offer.
The music by Gustavo Santaolalla is mesmerizing and vivid. Better than his rap, hip-hop score in Amores perros.

Of the almost infinite starcast:
Its Rinko Kikuchi who stands out instantly. She is meticulously detailed as the frustrated, deprived and tragedy-struck young girl. Amidst mammoth celebrities, she holds her own. Outstanding.

Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are perfect. They play the typical American couple with ultra eas

Adriana Barraza as the lovely nanny is heart-melting and arouses sympathy with every tear shed. Gael Garcia Barnel as the care-free Santiago is effective even in a pea-sized role. These two Mexican stalwarts portray complex characters with amazing depth.

As the first timers, the Moroccon actors - Mohamed Akhzam, Said Tarchani, Boubker Ait El Caid etc. are as real as the film itself.

Babel is as diverse a film as one can make in regard to genre, language, location, religion and characters. Just writing this review and fitting every aspect has exhausted me no end. Thus, one can imagine the hardships and trauma; the director must have faced in order to complete such a motion picture successfully.

Not only does he successfully complete it but does an enormously splendid job of it. He breaks all possible barriers and touches the dimension of our emotions, we never knew existed.
My money was on Babel for the Best Picture Oscar. I believe, the film was too good for the Oscar itself.

- Abbas Aziz Dalal.

Review: Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

Directed by: Shaad Ali Sehgal

*ing: Abhishek Bachchan
Preity Zinta
Bobby Deol
Lara Dutta

Rating: **

When Shaad Ali had debuted with Saathiya, every soul claimed “a new director and a new vision was born”. With Jhoom Barabar Jhoom after the super-boring Bunty aur Bubli, that vision has drowned in a Tsunami.

Though Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is endowed with mammoth production values and it seems it had an infinite budget, it goes boom on grey-matter value!

Its pointless, meaningless and torturous. Its not what you expect when you read the kind of names involved in the credits.

It crawls into start when the very wannabe Ricky Thukral (Abhishek Bachchan) meets one suave, Paki-British, Alvira Khan (Preity Zinta) at London’s Waterloo Railway Station waiting for their respective fiancé’s on the way from Birmingham. The trains turns out to be 2 hours late one after the other which gives these two freaks enough time to narrate their respective “how I met and fell in love” epics to each other. These flashback stories turn out to be excruciatingly boring and un-funnily enduring. The jokes fall flat and the plots seem hopeless.

The film does pick up minute momentum in the second half when secrets come tumbling out of the glass closet. The characters change and so does the narrative. It becomes slightly entertaining and then you want it to end which it eventually has mercy and does.

The script is filled with loop-holes and the dialogues are downright bad. The screenplay on the other hand mimics a tortoise. Gulzar's lyrics are beautiful and un-understandable by common man in parts. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy hit the right instruments and notes.

Speaking of entertainment, the parts that do entertain the most are when Mr. Amitabh Bachchan jumps in and pulls of difficult steps in a rug-coat and awkward-hat with class. He’s a delight to watch, no matter what he does. And of course, the brightest highlights of this caper are the spectacularly choreographed (Vaibhavi Merchant) and mesmerizingly shot songs amidst foot-tapping music. It’s the best song picturisation you shall see after Tumse milke from Main Hoon Na. Especially, the brilliant “Kiss of love” and the ten-minute title song-sequence. Amazing. It seems they’ve spent millions!

There are only four performances to speak of thankfully. Abhishek Bachchan as the bling-bling, I can sing, wannabe Ricky Thukral is over the top. The character is interesting but he hams it up in some parts and under-plays in others. What were you thinking dude??

Preity Zinta as the don’t-touch-me Alvira Khan is just about passable. Another surprise.

And more surprise, the best performances from this spam-fiesta come from the two under-dogs. Bobby Deol is spot on as the mama’s boy Satinder in the second half. He’s deliberately nervous and shy. Just like the mama’s boy next door. One of his best performances.
Lara Dutta on the other hand steals the thunder from Priety for once. She’s is superb as Laila and equally love-able as Anaida. She is also inevitably hot. Check her out!

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom desperately tries to be a mad-comic-caper, stealing our hearts and making us laugh. It fails miserably. Its full of bling-bling, massive production values, designer clothes, pink limousines, shimmering sets and golden celebs. But everything that shines, ain’t gold. Is it? Its like a double-frosted, cherry topped, blue-berry cheesecake but it doesn't taste that great.

- Abbas Aziz Dalal.

Review: The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Directed by: Frank Darabont
*ing: Tim Robbins
Morgan Freeman
Bob Gunton

Rating: *****

The Shawshank Redemption is voted as the 2^nd best film of all time after The Godfather on imdb.com. I found out why.

It starts off with a very strong court-room scene where Andy Dufresne {Tim Robbins), a successful banker is sentenced two back-to-back life imprisonments for the murder of his wife and her golf-pro lover. He pleads guilty.

He is immediately sent off to the Shawshank Prison headed by the warden from hell, Samuel Norton played by Bob Gunton. Norton's comrade the super-aggressive Caption Hadley (Clancy Brown) is the supervisor.

Andy finds out the prison is full of maniac criminals, homo-sexuals and innocents like himself. He bonds instantly with an old inmate – Red (Morgan Freeman), who is the official "man that knows how to get things" of this state prison. From cigarettes to whiskey to rock hammer. He can get it all.

Andy thus starts the journey of this new life with a soft, silent persona. He is dragged into the dark corners, beaten up and abused by homo-sexuals and guards but he never utters a word. He forms a camaraderie with other prisoners because he is so instantly likeabe.
He also brings touches of freedom, peace and sometimes serenity in their lives with his brilliant antics. He builds up a library, plays music on the microphone, makes a deal for beer for his friends and much more. Andy and Red become best of buddied.

Characters come on go, giving required momentum and depth to the plot. The screenplay is smooth as cheese. The cinematography and camera-work succeeds big time in dispaying the eerie prisoned feeling. One important character though, who changes the pattern of the film before climax is Tommy (Gil Bellows), who reveals who the actual guilty for Andy's crime is.

The climax of the film will leave you astonished, saturated and exhillerated. There are very few films that have a just 'perfect' ending. This is one of them. Infact this is a 'perfect' film itself. It is a simple story of how a man finds friends, hope, passion, ambition and finally redemption.

Tim Robbins as the soft-spoken, obedient and ambitious inmate Andy is mesmerizingly spectacular. His silences, his minute smiles and his brief imaginations leave you speechless. You want to get up and touch him. You want to tell him everything is going to be fine. They should have given away two best actor Oscsars that year – Tom Hanks for Forrest Gump (which he got) and Tim Robbins for this (which he didn't)

Morgan Freeman has never given an ordinary performance. Neither here. He is the tremendous pillar Andy leans on. Always smiling and always helping. He is the good goon. One of the finest performances, on celluloid.
Bob Gunton as the devil-warden is pathetically, sinfully great. You will hate the smell of him and it's a difficult job to make yourself hate, even onscreen. Tremendous.

The day, they jot down a list of the best films ever-ever made, The Shawshank Redemption will feature in the top ten and the man who made this – Frank Darabont, will finally and most deservingly get an Oscar. This film will fill your heart with love, freedom, friendship, courage, hard-work, enthusiasm and hope. Hope is a good thing. Go find out!

- Abbas Aziz Dalal.

Review: Trainspotting

Trainspotting (1996)

Directed by: Danny Boyle

*ing: Ewan Mcgregor
Ewen Bremner
Jonny Lee Miller
Kevin McKidd
Robert Carlyle
Kelly Macdonald

Rating: **** (out of 5)

There have been many attempts at bringing the drugs scene on celluloid. Some have been landmarks (Traffic, Cidade de Deus) and some, complete duds (.45). Trainspotting belongs to the former and is by far the most real and no-holds-barred take I have seen on substance-abuse.

It starts off with Renton (Ewan McGregor) running with a bag full of you-don’t-know-what and then the narrative suddenly dives into flashback without a hint. Renton, Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) and Spud (Ewen Bremner) are buddies in Edinburgh, addicted to Heroin and can’t get enough of it. They also glorify these Heroin-hits as being better than anything else in this world, even sex. But if you succeed in viewing this film with the right mindset, attitude and perception, it will make you hate drugs.

It takes you on a tour through the lives of a handful drug addicts, their ups and downs, their atrocities, their confused state of affairs, their harrowed families, their perks and jerks, their innocent minds and their meaningless existence.
Thought this film was made in 1996, it has a very fresh and modern feel to it. A couple of scenes will win you over like when Renton dives into the Dirtiest Toilet in Scotland or when he’s thrown out of the room after a rompy-sex-session.

Ewan McGregor is mind-blowing an on-off-junkie who is so full of dilemma that he is injecting himself one day and giving it all up the other. He wasn’t very famous when he did this film but he proves he’s bound to be famous. He narrates throughout the film with a very rich Scottish accent lending it more originality.
Ewen Bremner as the all time stoned Spud is howlarious but also arises plenty of pity with those loser expressions.
Jonny Lee Miller as Sick Boy and Kevin McKidd as Tommy fit the bill with perfection.
Robert Carlyle as the only non-dope Begbie stands out as the frustratingly violent gangster. Kelly Macdonald is super hot in a pea-sized role.

Trainspotting is an experience. An experience that will make you experience things you have never experienced. The director (Danny Boyle) makes us witness the filth, the shame, the risks, the troubles and the sorrow, drugs can bring into your life. And he does it all with finesse, class and tactfulness without making it preachy for a second. WATCH IT.

- Abbas Aziz Dalal.

Review: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Directed by: Michel Gondry

*ing: Jim Carrey
Kate Winslet

Rating: 1 million/10

There are great movies, there are good movies and then there are some movies which you cannot forget for the rest of your lives. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of them. For anyone who has ever loved or lost, this master-piece will strangle your heart and twist your mind till you yell, cry, laugh and ponder!

The French maestro (Michel Gondry) transforms the screen in to a world of love, passion, beauty and hope from the very first frame.
The plot is simple. The treatment, direction and camerawork though is the most complex, I have ever witnessed on celluloid. Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) meets Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) and they fall in Love. They're poles apart, they're night and day but they're crazy about each other. A year passes by when things don't quite work out which leads to an aggressive break up. Joel tries to catch up with Clementine again but she doesn't recognize him. He's desperate and spooked till he finds out the reason for her behavior is an operation she has undergone to "ERASE" him from her brain. Ego shrieks and he goes for the enviable procedure too. It's during the procedure that he realizes that memories is all he has and he really doesn't want to let them go but he cant stop as he's fast asleep!

Having mentioned the crux of the story, the actual proceedings take place during Joel's operation when the director showers us with heart-melting, warm, tremendously performed scenes cum memories between the lead pair. From their first meetings to their love making escapades to the final break up, all of them are the majestically, gloriously shot and chained together. The film takes a sharp turn as Joel tries to hide Clementine in every other possible section of his memory in order to avoid completely erasing her from his mind. Does he succeed? Does he survive? Does she survive? The scenes strut from the past to the present to the near past to the future and so on, making it difficult and sometimes irritating to comprehend but I won't blame the film or the makers for it. Its flawless.

Eternal Sunshine has a very fictitious premise but real, lovely characters.
Jim Carrey isn't a jerk making weird faces for once but is a loveable, lonely and an honest man of a few words. He will mesmerize you with his acting prowess and his ability to hold his own even when he has no lines to mouth. He is tremendous and fabulous, mammoth and massive. Just try taking your eyes of him.

Kate Winslet as the bubbly, confused, inferiority complex-ed, non-stop talker Clementine is so real that you want to get up and touch her. She becomes the girl you see on the bus-stop everyday with ease. Complimenting Carrey in every frame with all her charm, this is one of her best performances. This is completely their movie.

Elijah Woods, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Tom Wilkinson chip in with gems of their own. They contribute to these lovely hours at the movies with all their honesty.

I am thoroughly running out of adjectives and merely words to define this film. This is what cinema is all about. Smiles and Tears. This is a film that will make you cry your heart out inconsolably. This is a film you cannot miss. Rent it. Please.

- Abbas Aziz Dalal.

Review: Ocean's Thirteen

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

*ing: Al Pacino
George Clooney
Brad Pitt
Matt Damon
Don Cheadle
Ellen Barkin

Rating: [6/10]

The great thing about the Ocean's series is that it isn't necessary for you to have seen the previous part to enjoy the present one like The LOTR series or the over-hyped Star Wars.

Oceans's 13 kicks off with Reuben (Elliott Gould) suffering a heart attack because Will Bank (Al Pacino) has tricked him off his partnership in the new casino-project and left him broke.

The mighty Eleven unite under Mr. Ocean again to plunge into revenge against Mr. Will.
There are a couple of twists though. This time around they're master-minding not to steal but to win and leave in front of everybody. Also, assisting them with finance in this ordeal is Mr. Benedict (Andy Garcia), their rival from the previous heists.
They start with conceptualizing the process of beating the Artificial-Intelligence security, then manipulating the dices used to play and then finding a way to steal those 5-star rating diamond necklaces.

Oceans' Thirteen is more of a physical challenge this time than mental like in Eleven or Twelve although the plot isn't oblivious from being complicated. It takes its own sweet time to immerse and get you all interested before the hap-hazzard climax.
What works for this film is its classy camerawork (Soderbergh is famous for), amazing star-cast, glossy production values, crazy plot and the light, funny undertones.
What doesn't work is that it isn't as immensely witty as Eleven nor as amazingly entertaining as Twelve. Sad to say, its – "mediocre"

Of the humongous performers:
George Clooney is his suave best as Danny Ocean but has nothing new to do.
Brad Pitt is continuously munching and talking and making it all look so easy.
Matt Damon has the best cooked role here and he is spot on.
Al Pacino is outstanding as usual and always as the Big-shark casino boss.

Ocean's Thirteen will make you feel slightly empty and unsatisfied and annoyed as you start leaving the theater as you had entered the same expecting way too much. Soderbergh does disappoint to an extent except technically.
The film itself is worth the watch and wait for Clooney's suits, Pitt's smirks, Al Pacino's presence and Andy Garcia's expressions in the end.

Don't do the same mistake as yours truly did. Just enjoy it.

-Abbas Aziz Dalal.

Review: Cheeni Kum

Cheeni Kum

Directed by: R. Balki
*ing:Amitabh Bachchan
Tabu
Zohra Sehgal
Swini Khara
Paresh Rawal
Food

Rating: [6/10]

Cheeni Kum throws you straight into Buddhadev Gupta's (Mr. Bachchan) face from the first frame itself. He is egoistic, ruthless and merciless when it comes to maintaining his restaurant’s status. He owns the best “Indian” restaurant in London and he’s way too proud of it.

Enter Nina (Tabu) who shatters his misconceptions in no time. She makes him apologise (almost) and changes his attitude towards life and people itself. He is 64, she is 34. He falls for her and vice-versa. The chemistry turns enthralling and the romance exhillerating. You just want it to go on and on.

If Cheeni Kum had continued with the dry, sarcastic and unique flavour it has in the first 30 minutes, I would have rated in 10 on 10 but this is where it disappoints. How I wish it had!

The first half of this film is bliss. Completely boggling you with extremely witty dialogues and below the belt one-liners. It will make you laugh out loud, which is saying too much. But as soon as you’ve come back to your seat with the popcorn after the interval, the dialogues become vulgur and the jokes monotonous! The scenes involving Paresh Rawal become boring and the climax is a drag too. The whole sweet-sour comedy turns into an Ekta Kapoor family drama. The jokes start irritating and the scenes make no sense. Also the phony nicknames for each and every character don’t work, especially ‘sexy’ for a kid.

The film’s forte are its dialogues and the characters who mouth them.

Mr. Bachchan comes into his own as the aggressive chef. He is lovable, naughty, egoistic and confident without making it all look cheap in any way. He is a delight when he tries getting all mushy with Tabu. You just cant take your eyes off him. Also off the record, he looks smashing in a complete white suit in one of the scenes.

Tabu is amazing as the sarcastic and adamant Nina. She will steal your heart with those mischievous smirks and nasty smiles. She proves yet again that she’s one of the best actors alive.

Of the supporting cast, Zohra Sehgal as Mr. Bachchan’s mother is lovely and spot on with her comic timing. There’s not a dull moment when the bright old lady is around.
Paresh Rawal as Mr. Verma is passable.

What will go back home with you is Sexy’s (Swini Khara) performance as Buddha’s best friend. She is amazing with her dead-pan dialogue delivery and has the best lines in the film which she does full justice to. This is the most awesome child artist performance you will see after Black. It’s a pleasure.

Cheeni Kum could have been a revolutionary masterpiece in Indian cinema. Opening the doors for off-best, dry, un-emotional, romantic comedies but it isn’t. Director R. Balki strikes but only 50% and looses it on the way home. Don’t go into the theatre expecting too much and you won’t be disappointed.

- Abbas Aziz Dalal.