When Satya's (Drishya Raghunath) mother is injured, Satya agrees to help her with one of her wedding bureau clients, Madhev (played by Sagar). Madhev is scheduled to see three prospective brides in one day, and Satya accompanies him. While spending this time together, they fall in love, each without the other knowing, but there seems no possibility of them ending up together.
Though predictable, this low-budget film is sweet and fun, and even caused me to tear up. The plot starts extremely strong, but does weaken a bit in the second half. Music is not as large a part in this movie as is typical with Indian Cinema, and the songs are not particularly memorable. The supporting cast is solid, and Drishya Raghunath, who gives a believable performance, has good chemistry with Sagar. Sagar, though, steals the show with his thoroughly natural and completely charming acting. Shaadi Mubarak may not be an exceptional experience, but I found it engrossing and enjoyable, and certainly worth four stars.
Sanjay (Uday Chopra) and Anjali (Tulip Joshi, credited as Sanjana) have been best friends for twenty years. When Anjali returns from a trip to America and announces that she is engaged to an American doctor (Rohit, played by Jimmy Sheirgill), Sanjay is stunned. After his friend and flatmate, Ria (Bipasha Basu), awakens him to the fact that he is in love with Anjali, he determines to stop the wedding.
The movie has a predictable and light plot, with nice cinematography and average music. Chopra and Sheirgill, while not fully lead material, are above average in this film, and have good chemistry together. Sadly, neither had any with Joshi. She is the weakest link in the movie, giving an unconvincing and unnatural performance, unlike Basu's generally strong one. Overall, it's forgettable and I wouldn't particularly recommend it, especially to those new to the Indian Cinema experience.
In this Tamil language film, Aakash (Master Raghavan) lives with his father and grandfather. His father, Bhaskar (Arvind Swamy), is a tough and unpolished man with questionable business practices, and Aakash is ashamed of him. Aakash's best friend, Shivani (Baby Nainika), lives with her widowed mother, Anu (Amala Paul), and desperately wishes for a father figure. To give Aakash a gentle mother and herself a protective father, Shivani is determined to bring the two together, despite Anu's distaste for Bhaskhar's rough ways. When danger from Anu's past threatens, however, the two adults find themselves drawing closer.
The engaging plot has a nice twist, isn't always predictable, and is sometimes moving. While the music is average, the action scenes look good, and the cinematography is lovely. Swamy has a sort of bashful charm and a surprising amount of charisma, and is convincing throughout. Paul is credible, though not outstanding, and the supporting cast is generally solid. The child actors, however, are fantastic -- believable and natural and super cute. Overall Bhaskar Oru Rascal is an entertaining, if typical, example of Indian Cinema.
Arvind Swamy, Baby Nainika, Amala Paul, Master Raghavan
Shalu (Preity Zinta) is devoted to her sister, Nimmi (Mahima Chaudhry), but has a difficult relationship with her mother, Sarita (played by Rekha), who never seems to show her any affection. Shalu meets Dev (Arjun Rampal) and, after a few misadventures, they fall in love. Nimmi misinterprets Dev, thinking that he is in love with her, not Shalu. Based on that, Sarita arranges for Dev and Nimmi to marry. Shalu, wanting only her sister's happiness and desperate to win favor from her mother, stands aside and asks Dev to forget her.
(Jimmy Sheirgill and Alok Nath also star.)
The movie is light, predictable, and forgettable, being obviously nothing more than a vehicle to show Zinta's extremely convincing acting and her usual delightful, bubbly self. Chaudhry conveys her emotions well and mostly holds her own with Zinta. The striking Rekha is especially impressive, while Nath gives his signature benign performance. Neither Rampal or Sheirgill are strong enough to balance Zinta, however, and they come across as weak and unconvincing. The music is good, though, with "Dil Laga Liya Maine" being particularly memorable. Unfortunately, good music and the excellent Zinta aren't enough to make this more than average due to the bland, sometimes ridiculous, plot.
First Time Viewing: Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007) 3/5 stars Parts of it were unappealing, but it has two excellent songs and great performances by Priety Zinta and Abhishek Bachchan.
Janatha Garage (2016) 4/5 stars
Mainly a predictable vehicle for Jr. NTR, but enjoyable nonetheless, and with a strong performance by Nithya Menen.
Delhi 6 (2009) 3/5 stars Started off really good, but by the end I was rather puzzled. Abhishek Bachchan gave a good performance, but Sonam Kapoor was unimpressive.
Dhoom 2 (2006) 3/5 stars Action packed and fun, except for Aishwarya Rai's performance --she was so unsuited to the character that it was painful to watch.
Rewatched: Raavan (2010) 5/5 stars (my review here) My husband watched it with me this time, and he felt pretty much the same as I did.
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) 5/5 stars (my review here) This was my third viewing and, if anything, I cried even harder.
While You Were Sleeping (1995) 5/5 stars I first watched this in the theater, and I can't tell you how many times after that. This was the first time in a decade or so, though, and it stands the test of time. It's a fantastic movie.
Funny Face (1957) 3/5 stars I loved this as a teen, but wasn't as impressed this time around. The plot was thin, Astaire and Hepburn seemed mismatched, and her singing was weak. Costumes were fantastic, though, and Kay Thompson gave a stellar performance.
Veer Zaara (2004) 5/5 stars (my review here) I cried so hard this second viewing that I gave myself not only a headache, but a stomach ache as well.
A mystery performance-enhancing drug is believed to be behind an attack on the Indian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Indian Intelligence thinks that the once-presumed-dead criminal scientist, Love (played by Vikram) is behind it all. Akhilan (also played by Vikram), a former RAW agent who has a personal vendetta against Love, is re-recruited to investigate the situation alongside junior RAW agent Aayushi (Nithya Menon). (Meera, Akhilan's wife, is played by Nayanthara, with Thambi Ramaiah as Muthaiah, a Malaysian police officer.)
This action movie was not particularly interesting. All the fight scenes take place under the influence of a performance-enhancing drug, which makes the aspect that should be exciting into boring scenes, and the weak plot adds to the dullness. The bright point of the film is Vikram, who is excellent, and fully believable as two completely different people. Nithya Menon is also convincing as the fresh-faced novice, but Nayanthara gives a cardboard performance and there is zero chemistry between her and Vikram. The cinematography is good, but not spectacular, and the music is average. Really, the only appeal of Iru Mugan is that of Vikram's double role, which makes it worth watching once, but overall it's not memorable or even fully entertaining.
Sketch (played by Vikram) works as a repo-man, and excels at his job. He meets Amuthavalli (played by Tamannaah), a college student, when taking her friend's scooter and eventually falls in love with her. When she sees past the rough exterior to the kind man inside, she begins to care for him, too, despite her parents' objections. Later, to settle an old grievance for his boss, Settu (Hareesh Peradi), Sketch works out a plan to take the classic Fiat of a local gangster, "Royapuram" Kumar (played by Baburaj), an action that sets off a tragic chain of events for Sketch and his friends.
The main story, that of Sketch doing his job, fighting bad guys, and caring for his friends, is entertaining and even occasionally moving. The romance part of the plot is the weak link; there is little chemistry between Tamannaah and Vikram, and though she gives a good performance in general, there is no zing in their scenes together. In the other aspects of the film, however, Vikram is fully convincing as Sketch. The songs and background music are only average, but the cinematography is nicely done and the action scenes are fun. There is a most surprising twist, and the movie is worth watching if only for that.
A medical intern, Vasu (Abi Hassan) has an unknown patient (KK, played by Vikram) in his ward; as the patient was involved in an accident, the police are interested in discovering who he is. Later, Vasu is knocked unconcious at home, and his heavily-pregnant young wife, Aatirah (Akshara Haasan) is kidnapped. Vasu is informed that she will be returned when the unnamed patient is smuggled out of the hospital. Vasu attempts to do so, but instead finds himself on the run with KK, in a desperate race to save his wife.
Let's face it -- this movie is nothing more than an over-the-top vehicle to show off Vikram and his badassery. That being said, it's a lot of fun. Vikram plays his taciturn tough guy perfectly. Akshara Haasan and Abi Hassan (in his debut) have nice chemistry and are convincing in their emotional roles. Other than one song, the music is below average and not used effectively. The action scenes look good, as did the cinematography in general. The plot, though unbelievable, is still engaging and enjoyable. Overall, if you aren't looking for a deep story, this action-packed film will certainly provide two hours of thorough entertainment.
Dev Pratap Sharna (played by Vikram), a ruthlessly determined police officer, is transferred to a province to capture the dangerous tribal leader/villain Beera (Abhishek Bachchan). Beera kidnaps Dev's wife, Ragini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), beginning a violent and bloody fourteen day chase that ends in a showdown between the two men.
( Nikhil Dwivedi and Ravi Kishan also feature, with extended cameos by Priyamani and Govinda)
First off, let me say that a thriller of this sort is not my usual kind of movie. I started it out of curiosity, merely wanting to see how well the married Bachchans acted together, only intending to watch a few minutes. I finished it two hours and sixteen minutes later because they are great together (at times electric), because Abhishek is so convincing he scared the heck out of me, and because Vikram lives up to his glowing reputation. Aishwarya is impressive in this extremely emotional role. Both the supporting cast and the cameo actors give solid, believable performances, The camera work is stunning -- angles, colors, points-of-view -- and the entire film has a gritty, striking beauty. The music (songs and incidental both) is often haunting and always highly effective. As for the suspenseful story, it is chilling, well-plotted, nicely paced, and wholly engrossing. As I said, not my typical film, but it was fully worth five stars.
(This film was shot in Hindi and Tamil simultaneously, with slightly differing casts. My equally glowing review of the Tamil version can be found here.)
Farhan (R. Madhavan), Raju (Sharman Joshi) and Rancho (Aamir Khan) meet as freshmen at the Imperial College of Engineering. While Farhan and Raju are in college with the sole purpose of a degree for a job, Rancho wants to learn for sake of learning and has a nontraditional approach to education. This causes him trouble with the Dean (Boman Irani), despite his obvious intellect and ability. Rancho's unusual view of life causes upheaval in the lives of Farhan and Raju, in both negative and positive ways, creating a deep bond of friendship. Rancho dropped out of their lives immediately after graduation, however, and hearing a rumor of where he is from a fellow classmate (played by Omi Vaidya), they set out on a road trip to find him. (Kareena Kapoor plays the love interest.)
The well-written plot of this comedy-drama is charming, funny (though not ridiculous or over-the-top as the title might indicate), moving, and thoroughly enjoyable. . The chemistry between the three leads is excellent; they are completely convincing as tight-knit friends. Khan is outstanding, with Madhavan (a favorite of mine from Tamil films) and Joshi also giving strong performances. I usually find Kapoor to be stiff and not fully believable, but this somewhat small role was a good one for her, and she shone. This multiple award winning film deserves it's accolades, and if the music had been better than average, would be a full five-star movie.
