Two Mothers (2013) - Drama

A superb and stunningly shot movie based on Friendship, Love, Life and relationships. Amazing is the way it is written, although based it’s based on a book by a British writer “The Grandmothers”. Naomi Watts and Robin Wright as two mothers are aptly caste. Two childhood friends and neighbors in New South Wales’s one of the most scenic location, how they go through their lives, get married have children, one gets widowed and another’s husband leaves her for a job in Sydney and how they fall in for each other’s son, how it all creates a lot of confusion yet they remain best of friends, what happens next is a super drama with an equally superb ending. One thing that I totally loved about the movie is the way years go by so smoothly they have shot it as in one shot we see them as two little girls and in the next they grow up while everything else remains same. The transition from being kids to adults to mothers to grandmothers is so smooth, I haven’t seen a better movie or the way they have done in this one in any other movie so far. One final transition of becoming Grandmothers and the last scene of the movie is like the cherry on top. It’s a great lesson in learning that life goes on but in the end you will get where you were destined to be, try as hard as you can to change the course – in the end you will be where you should be. Although it all sounds very controversial but the handling is so good that not for one moment it crosses that line and goes overboard. The way their confusions, expressions, sacrifices and thoughts are covered is simply awesome – I am sure the book will surely be damn good – this became another of those movies which made me look forward to the book as it will give minute and great details on the same. If you like dramas based on love, life and relationship – you shouldn’t miss this one, I will definitely give it a fundoo 4/5 with a very strong recommendation for all. A movie which shouldn’t be missed by anyone.

D - Day (2013) - Thriller

After reading so many positive reviews on the movie I waited for a better print as somehow missed it again on big screen. Obviously the expectations were way too high as when you make a movie on India’s most wanted and Worlds second most wanted criminal “Dawood Ibrahim” in lead – it’s got to be an action packed movie. But what it turns out to be a total mish mash work of fiction as I totally missed who was directing it – and it was “Nikhil Advani” – Holy mother of god! What were the producers – whoever they are – were thinking before assigning him this movie? I wondered who wrote and scripted this one. I guess they are almost unknown people hence I will spare them a chance. The makers were totally confused as what to make, should we make an out n out thriller? Or should we make a movie with spy’s and their families in the background? A mercenary with a heart of gold who feels for a prostitute? Almost everyone who had to sacrifice his / her life in catching or killing the gangster had a background, so R&AW couldn’t get hold of those guys who would die for their nation? Not even in a movie? Oh I forgot again that this was a work of fiction with some real time instances in between which had rocked “India” not so long ago. Was I supposed to be entertained by this? In what way? It wasn’t thrilling for one, neither I could feel for any of the characters – even a guy like Irfan Khan who I myself love big time isn’t convincing in this one because once he plays a character as good as an Indian spy – he won’t shed a tear for his dying wife and son – C’mon – I bet he won’t but since its Nikhil “Kal Ho Na Ho” Advani behind it – almost everybody cries for his own family back home. Unfortunately the movie offers nothing new that we haven’t seen so far in so many movies made in last couple of years – this one although takes it one step ahead. Spoiler Ahead: They even catch him this time and guess what – they drag him to India and shoot him dead on the border itself, after he delivers a kickass speech in the end, that scene deserves accolades as it was the best part of the movie which had us in splits, couldn’t believe that they indeed made Dawood (Onscreen) say all that shit. Still I will give it a good 2/5 – one for Irfan Khan and half each for Rishi Kapoor and Arjun Rampal. Go ahead if you haven’t seen – it’s an average time pass with a classic dreamy finish.

Evil Dead (2013) - Horror

I can never forget that night when we saw the Original “Evil Dead” and its part 2 – way back in late 80’s, guess I was in 3^rd or 4^th standard and after watching both the movies back to back – all of us brave brothers refused to go out of the house in the night to lock the main gate for weeks. Whenever one of us tried to be a little braver than other – we will make some noises and he will run back for his life without locking the main gate. That was the impact of a “Sam Raimi” horror movie – it was indeed frightening – I saw both the parts a couple of months ago and still found them to be pretty good. Now coming back to this “Reboot” – I guess I always have an issue with reboots – this one is a more messier, bloodier and grosser then both the earlier parts put together but still it looks more silly and comical than Horror to me. May be because I have grown in age and don’t find the content to be horrific but nothing has changed, they are still out of ideas in the west and serving the same age old stuff. Although a couple of things were too good in the movie like the house, its surroundings, even the old car can be seen parked in the backyard, the book of the dead is back in the basement and that’s about it. I missed that legendry scene of chopped hand which tries to kill the man himself in this one – the hand does get chopped by a more modern electric knife but nothing happens after that. Even after knowing that it is a reboot still the expectations were quite high hence this one didn’t work for me at all and I found it a big let down in front of the original – will look forward to its upcoming sequel – hope that one succeeds in scaring me. My rating will be an average 2/5 and if you haven’t seen it – you aren’t missing anything special – I would rather recommend the original – go get them and watch them back to back.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) - Science Fiction

Star Trek is one of my all time favorite franchise that goes way back like 2 or more decades when we had the TV series of same name. Sunday used to be an epic day for us during those days – thanks to Star Trek – Captain Kirk, Spock and his team – who can forget those days – it was simply rocking stuff then and it still is totally amazing. No wonder this became one of the highest grossing movies of the series which almost made like $500 million worldwide. I still remember that my mom used to blackmail us to take bath and have breakfast if we wanted to watch “Star Trek” on TV every Sunday and we will follow her orders as we just couldn’t miss one episode. What I love about this series (Movie) is that they don’t waste any time in giving us the background or whereabouts rather they hit the ground running hard and that’s one thing that this series followers love actually. In reality it is very tough for me to decide what I not like about this series, starting from those out of the world space ships to those gadgets that they have to talk to each other, space suits to fly from one ship to another, teleporting devices, those white corridors that they keep running in, even the title music is so damn cool, it gives me Goosebumps every time it comes onscreen, the new turbo that they have got for their ship is one new thing I guess – Whooof! And they travel so many light years in seconds – it’s all totally amazing and the makers make sure to put a smile on our faces whenever we see them on big screen. Who care’s where the story goes as long as it goes anywhere we know that Captain Kirk and Spock will save the world in the end and will always be a great team to look forward to. Each and every character in the whole series is fantastic – I could never forget those names other than Captain and Spock like Uhura, Scotty, Doc McCoy, Zulu etc. This time they are almost 200 years ahead of our time and the whole enterprise is in danger from a terrorist on the run – their target is to get him back to earth and prosecute – how they do that is the movie all about. It is out n out a damn good visual treat for the fans and even otherwise it works big time like an independent movie for someone who has no clue about its past as well. I will give it a good 3/5 and a must watch recommendation for all.

Harishchandrachi Factory (2009) - Marathi

I was on the lookout for this one for quite a while; saw it coming on some Marathi channels but unfortunately without subtitles – finally my hunt got over last week when I got a decent copy that too with Subtitles. The Movie was India's Official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at The Academy Award in the year 2009. It is based on the life and times of Dada Saheb Phalke – the Father of Indian Cinema. One of those few movies that kept me engrossed throughout as the protagonist played excellently by Nandu Madhav (Phalke) goes through the pains and struggles to film the country’s first feature film. How he starts it and how it all gets made is a hilarious yet informational ride for someone who has no idea how it all happened but we know how far it has come in the last 100 odd years. I wonder why none of the so many great movie makers that we have today tried this ever? Or thought of making one on the legend. It was a visual treat as well as they have really put in some hard work to show us how the world and in particular Mumbai looked like at that time, was amazing to see a Tram on Mumbai roads and one particular dialogue had us big time in splits when Phalke announces that he is shifting to “Dadar” to which his neighbor retorts that “Dadar is a jungle”. He travels all the way to London in the year 1913 to learn the technology, gets the camera, equipment and comes back putting a team of actors. It’s actually fantastic to see the whole process starting from a scratch to all the sacrifices he makes and finally succeeds in his efforts and what follows him is a revolution. The whole movie is shot in a comical way which makes it look like so easy yet it’s an eye opening account, totally loved it. As they say nothing comes easy hence Phalke had to go through solid hard work and struggle to come up with the first movie – he almost loses his eye sight watching movies day in day out, sells off his all personal belongings, including his wife’s jewelry, was on the verge of going bankrupt when finally his idea clicks and then there is no looking back for the man and the industry too. How his family and friends standby during the tough days was commendable, how they help and trust him is totally awesome. It’s a must watch for all and It deserves a good 4/5 for all the efforts the whole team has put in. Not to be missed by anyone.

Madras Cafe (2013) - Political Thriller

Madras Café is finally one movie which I can call a perfect political thriller - takes no sides, gives no judgments, gives no views, and just shows you a black chapter from history as it happened which unfortunately my generation witnessed LIVE! Fantastic! Is the way they have made this one and hats off to Shoojit Sircar yet again (3^rd time in a row) to give us a meaningful movie. One of the firing scenes between rebels and army actually reminded me of legendary “Forrest Gump” from the west, I am actually way too impressed by the quality of this one and I guess the world will see that change too in Indian Cinema – this is one movie which should set the standard for future political thrillers from our part of the world. No drama, no songs, no emotions, straight to point, I guess that’s one reason why my wife wasn’t too happy with it as she got to see no “John Abraham” show that she expected to witness – here he plays a character and gets so engrossed in it that too so convincingly that I had to tell her in the opening scene that it was him. Superb Job! Not claiming that he is going to get all Best Actor Awards but all accolades to him for playing that Army / RAW agent part extremely well. Fortunately Rajiv Gandhi was one of my favorite leaders and like a lot of others I too thought that he could have shown India a different path towards progress but that dream was short lived – how he was assassinated by whom, is all there to see in this one. Although the pace was a little slow with too much information being thrown at the audience but the built up was so strong that when the finale hit us – it made us breathless – again everything felt like :been there done that types” yet it makes a deep impact. If thriller is your idea of a movie that too made on a subject we all graduated too – this is it! A must watch for all thriller lovers and I will definitely give it a good 3/5 with two thumbs up. Not to be missed by anyone.

The Conjuring (2013) - Horror

I am one of those guys who get scared even while watching a thriller so usually horror movies are something that I hardly ever take a chance with on big screen and my circle is such that it’s tough to find a partner either for the same. Hence I took it as a challenge this time to watch this one alone that too in the dead of the night (Friday). The movie is already getting good reviews from people and I was almost ready to get frightened big time. It turns out to be a fantastic thriller and partly works as a horror too but trust me it isn’t half as scary as “The Exorcist” or “The Omen” (Old Series) was, it has its own highs and lows, twice I got solid Goosebumps – no doubt on that but it never scared me that much that I will turn it off and walk away – all this when I started the movie right after my shift at 3 AM. You see – I am becoming brave by the day. Confession: As the movie ended, I just couldn’t turn the lights off behind my back and straight walked in the bedroom with living room lights on, later while trying to sleep realized that I forgot to turn off the TV too and wifey laughed out loud this morning realizing my dilemma. The movie is simple as all horror movies usually are, a family with five daughters moves in to a haunted house, they start getting all the wrong signals but by the time they realize it’s too late to move out, beautiful Vera Farmiga and her husband who are demonologists come to their rescue and everyone knows what happens next in that kindda situation. It has all the contents of a perfect horror movie but not utilized fully like pet dying, creaking floor and walls, noisy doors, shouting spirits, a scary basement, and children playing hide and seek. The neighborhood had a scary past as expected and everything had to be put in a proper order. But I must say – it does makes up for a superb thriller cum horror to say the least, it indeed scared me quite a few times and never fails on entertainment quotient. If you do not compare it with its counterparts – chances are that you are going to like it and recommend it too. I will give it a good 3.5/5 with two thumbs up. Do not miss it – if horror / thriller is your idea of a perfect weekend – go give it a try and check your guts too but in a theater and not like me in a closed room alone.

PS: Just two days back out of sheer co-incidence I was telling my daughter and her friends – as they played hide in seek at home, to not to call out each other if they have hidden rather clap to give a hint to others, guess I am going to change that now, if you have seen the movie you will smile if you haven’t – go take a look.

Through the Olive Trees (1994) - Drama

Whenever I watch an Irani Film especially made by the likes of Abbas Kiarostami, it makes me feel as If I am watching a Satyajit Ray movie and indeed I just read it that he is compared with the likes of Ray and others. Outstanding is the way they make these simple movies in the most subtle way yet with such a deep and meaningful insight of the subject they talk about, still they definitely put a smile on your face by the time it ends. After watching all the Ray movies back to back – I got loads of these Iran, Persian and movies from the neighboring countries and what an experience it has been so far. This one is no different with a movie being shot in the movie and how it cast the local people of the village perform their parts even after having differences is a damn good watch. Plus it gives a great idea of the surrounding war torn country to the audience with the way Director communicates with locals. The lead actors in the movie being shot have a dilemma going on too and how the whole thing works out in their favor is simply superb, although it has an open ending where you need to decide how it ends still I feel it ends on a happy note. Imagine the movie was made in 1994 and it was amazing to see a local lady driving an SUV going around taking care of the whole unit, cast and even the decorations, the way she  co-ordinates with all is simply amazing. This is a must watch for all serious cinema lovers and I will definitely rate it a good 4/5. Not to be missed.

Parker (2013) - Action / Thriller

Another run of the mill Jason Statham action movie which will again be loved by his loyal fans like yours sincerely. It’s actually fun to watch him do the same stuff again and again – I fail to understand why we as his fans never get tired of his histrionics. Even this one is no different with a robbery gone wrong, a big fall out, his partners almost kill him and walk away with the booty, he steals one ambulance, a truck and two cars in mere first 20 minutes of the movie and robs another check cashing store before heading towards Florida to find the four guys and take his revenge. What happens next is a cat and mouse game between him and those guys, a couple of hit man behind him all the while, a girl friend and mentor to take care and an estate agent who falls for him. Although it’s a little too long for “non Jason Statham fans” but worked for me big time on entertainment quotient, Nick Nolte in a brief role as his mentor was simply bonus to watch him again in a movie and I was actually confused to see “Jennifer Lopez” doing the comic part in the movie, guess she is as desperate to be in a movie again as her character was in this one. Can’t even call her eye candy as she has lost it big time and long ago, even that brief strip act in the movie doesn’t work in her favor. Action as I said is run of the mill stuff, but still I will call it a good time pass movie and will definitely rate it as a 3/5 with two thumbs up and recommendation to all his fans. Do not miss it.

Downfall (2004) - War Film

It is indeed very tough to describe Adolf Hitler, should he be called one of the most hated man who ever lived on earth? And after reading and watching so many documentaries / movies on his life – I came across this one and it turns out to be one hell of a movie based on the “last ten days of his life as the Dictator”. Almost 150 minutes run time but never for a moment I felt that it was that long, simply superb casting, initially I thought I am going to laugh on the way he gets angry whenever something goes wrong but the way “Bruno Ganz” plays Hitler its totally amazing, terrific job, what awesome body language, expressions, dialogue delivery etc. So far, this is one of the closest account and a superb insight on the man and his last days, which actually shows how exactly it happened. You can call it predictable right from the very start since we all know by heart – how and what is going to happen next but it’s totally convincing to see how they made it. The movie is made on a book which was written on the memoirs of one of Hitler’s secretaries Traudl Junge (Superbly done by beautiful Alexandra Maria Lara). Obviously it will not be right to say that one can sympathize with Hitler during his last days, what happens to him in the end is actually painful but I believe he deserved much worse, he saves himself by deciding to never get caught dead or alive, and how his loyal team follows his orders is amazing to see. If the history has to be believed – he killed more than 6 million Jews and 50 million of his own men died in the war. Yet! What is unbelievable to read or see in a movie of this kind is that he had so many loyal followers who indeed stick with him till the very end, knowing what fate awaits them – now that’s something we don’t see or read every day, nobody dared tell him that what he is doing is wrong. The movie has so much going on in those 150 minutes, people are dying, Germans running out of ammunition / men, country in ruins, it’s heartening to see kids (German) blowing the Russian tanks and getting awarded for the same, there is a scene where Hitler actually gives awards an “Iron Cross” to a very young boy and says “I wish my Generals were as brave as you are”. One moment you see a furious Hitler delivering choicest of abuses on his Generals and next you see him smiling over kids singing in the bunker. It’s a must watch for those who love biographical stuff, although this can’t be called one as it shows only the last ten days but I guess they were one of the most researched part of History. My ratings – a definite 4/5 with two thumbs up and a very high recommendation to all. Not to be missed.

Oasis (2002) - Romance

One of the best love stories I ever saw, superb cast, amazing acting, fantastic premise and what awesome handling. As I started the movie today afternoon – wifey reacted “Another Korean movie, not again”, and as the movie progressed – we totally got engrossed and there was no looking back, it kept reminding us somehow as we had seen it earlier or something similar – dunno wasn’t too sure. It’s an amazing story of a mildly mentally disabled guy (who I believe was way too good than us normal people), who was just released from jail for a hit and run case, he straight goes to meet his own family and then goes to check on the family of the guy who he killed in the accident. He ends up falling for the daughter of the victim who herself is suffering from Cerebral Palsy. It was totally outstanding to see two disabled people helping each other the way they do who were discarded by their own families and society in general. Totally unbelievable stuff. What all little things they do with each other is heart wrenching and had so many lump in the throat moments. Trust me it has its own little happy moments too – I would not like to disclose too much but if you like serious movies with a great message – this is going to be one of the best. I will definitely rate it a great 4/5 for sure, I took one point away for a little over the top handling being a Korean movie, they do tend to go over board when it comes to nudity, action, emotion and almost all the things. Still this is something which shouldn’t be missed by anyone. A must watch for those who like serious movies.

The Great Gatsby (2013) - Drama

Finally I get to see a movie that I waited but unfortunately almost forgot about it once it was out of theater – don’t even remember why and how I missed it on big screen – anyways! I expected it to be a great lesson in history about some millionaire and it turns out to be a superb drama with fantastic cast, three of my favorite actors in one movie including Leonardo DiCaprio as “The Great Gatsby” – simply superb, Toby Maguire (My favorite Spiderman) as his neighbor and Carrey Mullignan as Toby’s cousin and Gatsby's love interest. One of the reasons for a lot of Indians was Amitabh Bachchan’s presence in the movie which lasts about one a half minute – I saw that scene twice J. It was better than my expectations for sure as story is nothing outstanding but the way its told and shot is truly awesome. Baz Luhrmann is anyways famous for lavish movies and I totally loved two of his earlier movies “Moulin Rouge” and “Australia”. But this one surely beats them all on a lot of departments like Cinematography for one, Thrill for two and last but not the least – Drama associated with it. LDC is again at his very best as the mysterious business magnate Jay Gatsby who holds extravagant parties (You’ve got to see it to believe it types) with superb support by Toby (a world war vet who writes his story) and an excellent roller coaster emotional ride by Carey (She fits the character). Who is Gatsby? A German spy? A prince? Or an Assassin? And how their life changes when the secret is revealed is totally awesome watch. It even is a visual delight to see the NYC of those days as captured excellently in the movie, his parties, car, body language and the heartbreaking ending, all worth the money and time. I will definitely give it a damn good 3/5 with two thumbs up, it’s a must watch for all cinema lovers, not to be missed at any cost.

Chennai Express (2013) - Action / Comedy

The biggest dilemma for us was when “Chennai Express” was declared by Rohit Shetty as his next with Shah Rukh Khan in lead – two reasons – First - we cannot for sure miss a Rohit Shetty movie as the whole family is a big fan of that genre and the man himself, Second – Almost all of us are SRK haters J. Still – we gave it a try today and VOILA! It turns out to be a laugh riot right from the word Go! I couldn’t believe my eyes to see SRK’s desperation – what he does onscreen I guess he did something like this about 10 odd years ago in a bollywood movie – he almost left no stone unturned to make this one of his best comic movies in a long long time. I don’t know what some people were complaining about Deepika’s south Indian accent – we found it simply superb, and it wasn’t that she did it only for a couple of scenes – right upto the last moment she was in the same mode and that’s something commendable, with this movie and YJHD – she has actually proved that she can pick up any character with ease and deliver. Although that typical Rohit Shetty touch was missing – more credit to SRK – I am sure he must have given a lot of inputs to him to make it the way it is still I am not complaining as it was a hilarious joy ride for us and I am sure my kiddo too is going to love it big time – we saw it today in her absence. One thing I should mention that even after making a Comedy / Action movie – the guy knows how much emotion to put and exactly at what point – it works big time as that adds a little more meaning to the narrative and scenes. Even the songs are aptly placed and work in favor of the movie more than a hindrance. Another problem which some people had with so much use of Tamil in the movie – my goodness – I was like totally shocked – C’mon man! It wasn’t that hard to decode what they were saying as it was all done for the comedy and was way too easy to understand what they meant and what SRK understood moreover Deepika worked like a perfect translator throughout the movie – still people complained. Deepika was simpy superb in those Sarees and with south Indian make up. Barring one great shot of Doodhsagar – movie hardly had any great cinematography or camera work – even the action wasn’t that outstanding as I was expecting but just about ok types. My ratings – a definite 3/5 with two thumbs up, it’s a great time pass if nothing else and I will certainly check it out a couple of times more for SRK’s outstanding energy and those awesome references from his previous movies.

Sixteen (2013) - Drama / Thriller

Another brilliant movie which went almost unnoticed largely because it wasn’t marketed at all – I don’t remember seeing a single promo of this one anywhere – second – it had almost an unknown cast barring Zakir Hussain as one of the parents of a teenager. Still – it turns out to be an excellent movie – so far the best on the subject made yet in India. It is simply superb the way Writer / Director has captured – What goes inside the head of a teenager in a particular situation and how they react to it. Since I’ve dealt with a lot of teenagers in last year or so – I can very well say that this movie shocked / surprised and made me agree with its point of view, even the ending is simply superb and solution offered is something you will mostly agree with. The best part is that we all have gone through this period in our life, although the time was different then and the society has changed so much in today’s time. (Taken from Wiki): The movie is based upon young boys and girls of India. Anu is carefree and ambitious girl who wants to be a model. Nidhi is a girl who is innocent and 'Miss virgin'of group. Tanisha is mature than her age and likes guys older than her. She lives with her aunt since her parents passed away in an accident. She wants a perfect guy-with good sense of humour, good looks and intelligence. Ashwin belongs to a middle class family with a strict dad who wants him to be an IAS. How their life changes and what they do with it makes up for the movie – if it was in my hands – I would make this movie a compulsory subject in all the school and colleges – even for all the parents – this is a must watch. Its gives a superb insight and works like a brilliant eye opener of sorts for parents – I will definitely give it a good 3/5 with two thumbs up rating. It’s a must watch if you haven’t seen it – do not miss it at any cost.

Race to Dakar (2006) - Documentary

I came across this while reading an article on “Top 10 Auto Racing Movies” and what a fantastic TV Series this one turns out to be. Shot and made in 2006, still it feels as if made yesterday – one hell of a story of a biker Charley Boorman’s journey to Dakar with his team. It is 7 episodes of 45 minutes each – I almost saw it back to back as couldn’t simply resist what happens next and trust me – it was mind-blowing stuff. No less than a perfect thriller, if you love riding / driving and have gone to a dream distance on your bike or car – you are simply going to love this. Race to Dakar is one dream on almost every drivers mind – a majority of them will never even dream to do one day – let alone trying for it. How and what they do is totally amazing – out of this world thing. Starting from the preparation to practice to finally going for it and doing it – I had no idea as I never read about this one before watching it – so if you plan to see it – read no further – go ahead – get a copy and you will be stunned to see how they do it and how actually it turns out to be. It was amazing to see so many girls doing it as well and this one had the first British Woman to complete the race in 2006 whereas her eager husband awaits her arrival at finish line. The Race to Dakar starts from Lisbon, Portugal, and passed through Spain, Morocco, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, before finishing in Senegal (Dakar). Every year a number of people participate on their bikes, cars and trucks – only 40% make it to the finish. This year they even had an accident and a rider died on the spot, which too is captured in the documentary. Its commendable to see the preparations and checks done by organizers – they already tell everybody how dangerous it is – still the excitement is such that the turnout is huge – even people standing on the sides to see the racers is simply amazing. It’s a must watch for even those who do not ride or drive – I will rate it a fantastic 5/5 and will definitely keep a copy for future viewings too.

Issaq (2013) - Romance

Another addition in the series of “How in the world these movies get made”. Amazing disaster and another addition in the resume of Supremely Talented Prateik Babbar (Only talent he has is his last name). I have no idea which Benaras they were talking about in the movie as it’s impossible to digest one where people roam around in open jeeps with machine guns and kill their rivals at the drop of a hat and nothing happens. WOW!! And to top it all – this is they claim is based on Shakespeare’s play – OMG – I am sure he must be cursing them from his grave. Flat 20 minutes and even that I guess was too much to give this movie. Let alone the lead – they even hired a super fair Indian chick – painted her hair brown, throw some accent and there you have a foreign girl. Awesome! This guy can seriously not act as many debutants they may hire to make movies or opposite him – he still looks like a super crack pot. The less said about the support cast the better – in a word – this was a total disaster. Stay away. No Ratings!

Man of Steel (2013) - Super Hero

I simply skipped it after reading that it was another reboot – right after the disaster called “Amazing Spiderman” which left me heartbroken – that was one movie I will always remember cause I almost walked out midway when my wife stopped me and I somehow saw it full. But I must say this one turns out surprisingly good not only because of superb casting but because it doesn’t take that much time in coming to the point and not for one moment makes you feel like you are being spoon fed the whole Godamn story that we already know by heart. Superman for me and my generation will always be “Christopher Reeve” and anyone playing that character will always be compared with him big time. This one worked for me as “Henry Cavill” was almost unknown to me and he was simply superb in the character – hope he continues in the sequels. Efforts by the whole team are visible in the movie – especially when you see some big names associated with the movie like “Chris Nolan / Hans Zimmer / Zack Snyder” etc. Also, the support cast is too good, starting from Russell Crowe as Superman’s Dad, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as his parents on earth, Amy Adams as his girl friend, Lawrence Fishburne as her boss (not a big role) but Michael Shannon takes the cake – fantastic portrayal of a killer villain yet again by him. Rest of the things are balanced out by Action and background score which again is fantastic and the good part is – it never looks over done. Again it’s America under attack by General Zod (Shanon) and his remaining team from Krypton the dead planet in search of Kal El (Superman) – the finale is a mind-blowing action sequence done too good and totally worth the entire money one spends on the movie. If it wasn’t for the Amazing Spiderman’s disaster – I would’ve seen it on big screen – now I’ve gotta wait for its Blue Ray launch in very near future. The movie definitely gets a 3/5 from my side with two thumbs recommendation for those who missed it for some silly reason like mine. Go for it – do not miss it anymore.

Killing Season (2013) - Action / Thriller

It’s not too hard to like a movie when you see it with a bent of mind that you are going to love it anyways ;) – I am big time biased towards a couple of stars and Robert De Niro is one of the biggest of them all – call him daddy of my favorite stars and we’ve been big fans of John Travolta since his “Rock n Roll” days – so no doubt this was a double treat for us. Third big reason for watching this was the background of the movie – superb! Two War Veterans – One a recluse living a life of oblivion – another his blood thirsty enemy – what happens next is a cat and mouse game of who kills whom first – it is no doubt big time predictable yet it works solely because of the outstanding job done by both the leads – I actually didn’t wanted no one to come in between them and what a fantastic movie this one turns out to be. Barring the ending - which was a little difficult for me to digest – yet I could live with it – with hopes – who knows they may come out with a sequel ;). Movies with these guys make me think hard that – is it really the Director doing anything with actors like them? As so many scenes, lines, expressions etc are so typically De Niro’d and Travlota’d that it looks like this one was written for them and they were given ample of freedom to do how they could do it best – totally amazing. If you are a fan of any of them – go watch it – you are sure to like it if not love. I am definitely giving it a biased but good 3/5, will take away half credit for the ending but still it makes up for a superb watch.

Ramaiya Vastavaiya (2013) - Comedy

Another star is born with this movie that is going to pakao us for the rest of his life called Girish Kumar to the well known Producer Kumar Taurani. The father son picked up two superhit movies “Maine Pyaar Kiya” and “Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya” and Prabhudeva did the needful of mishmashing them into one hilarious movie – where its very hard to tell if you are laughing “with or on the movie”. Dude in lead tries every possible trick of the trade to entertain and let me tell you this – if at all you care to watch it now – it’s a total laugh out loud movie with so much drama in between – indeed we had a great time watching it at home – where my kiddo laughed big time on whatever that guy was trying / doing on screen with his “Saif Ali Khan” looks of 15 years ago and we were just trying to draw parallels with those movies and predicting the upcoming scenes. They tried taking whoever they could for the movie so it could pull in some crowd – I guess the biggest of them all was the Director – Prabhudeva who himself does a cameo (Song and Dance) with Jacqueline Fernandes, the other big names attached to the movie were Vinod Khanna, Poonam Dhillon, Randhir Kapoor, Nassar, Satish Shah, Sonu Sood, Shruti Hassan (Heroine) etc. I don’t know the box office status but I am sure it wasn’t a hit for sure. Still I will give it an average 2.5/5 and will call it an average one time watch. I wonder what was the relevance of that title?

Ghanchakkar (2013) - Comedy / Suspense

After making two superb critically acclaimed movies as well as commercially successful too – Rajkumar Gupta tried his hand on Comedy / Suspense – and Bravo! What an attempt. Unfortunately this movie came and went without making any headlines – I guess I was busy that week hence missed it. Emraan Hashmi and Vidya Balan anyways was a weird combination to be in one movie that too in lead. But I am glad we saw this today finally and it actually turned out to be an above average comedy cum suspense – right till the very last scene it was very tuff to guess the culprit, although it’s a bit too long as per today’s movie making standards and should’ve been edited by good 20-25 minutes for sure. Still it works perfectly like a movie which keeps the audience hooked to the narrative. The casting is superb too with Emraan as good for nothing husband who loses his memory right after a successful bank robbery and has no idea where he has hidden the money. Vidya Balan as his fashion disaster nagging wife – I guess they tried to do a unsuccessful image makeover for her and failed big time. Their partner in crime Pandit (Superb Rajesh Sharma) and Idris (Namit Das) were too good. What all they try to bring his memory and money back is simply hilarious. If only it was edited a litter better – it would’ve made a perfect comedy cum suspense drama movie. I will still call it a decent attempt as we enjoyed it thoroughly – it surely gets a good 2.5/5 from me and can be called a nice one time watch for sure, not at all a bad movie.

Bajatey Raho (2013) - Comedy

Another amateurish attempt at comedy which falls flat on its face – shockingly it can be called a bad copy of superb movie “Khosla Ka Ghosla” – I am sure the Director was inspired by that movie to make this crap. I read couple of reviews which praised the performance of Dolly Ahluwalia and I totally felt otherwise – she was average as Mummyji and was totally out of place and uncomfortable as the business tycoon she plays – Oh My God! The only good part about this movie was sincere performance of Tushaar Kapoor – we so much liked his role and I must say – his was the best character – had most of laugh out loud moments were because of him only and the high point of the movie is that - Mata Ki Chowki song – based on Desiboyz “Subah Hone Na Dey” – that is something you shouldn’t miss on youtube, its hilarious. The movie starts very well but loses the steam in flat 20 minutes and goes nowhere from there – talents like Ranveer Shorey, Vinay Pathak and even Ravi Kissen are totally wasted to an extent, I thought it will still be an average movie but found it below it. I was actually forced to pick up my cell in between and check mails / whatsapp / facebook whatever I could do in between. Even the item number by some foreign chick was totally unwanted. Guess I should have missed it hence my rating will be 1/5.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2013) - Political Thriller

As this movie released – I thought it’s going to be another movie on a Muslim in US before and after the 9/11 attacks with Mira Nair’s name attached to it – became another turn off to not to see the same old beaten to death stories – how wrong I was – to judge it just like that without even watching it. As I finally picked it today – I was totally shocked by the way it turns out to be – it’s an amazing movie – first is the way the writer / she has handled the subject, second – the superb cast and finally the fantastic ending, totally unbelievable at least for those who haven’t read or have any idea about the book. Not every Muslim who returned to his country after getting abused by Americans after 9/11 turned into a terrorist and took a revenge for something they shouldn’t have done with the innocent Muslims. Now that’s something different and totally unexpected. Riz Ahmed does full justice as the protagonist and his is another heart breaking story, Fantastic is the way he is supported by two talented guys Liev Shrieber as CIA Agent and Kiefer Sutherland as his boss. Others in cast too are well known figures like Kate Hudson as his girl friend, Om Puri and Shabana Azmi as his parents, Adil Hussain as Al Quaeda Chief in Pakistan, Imad Shah as his colleague in Lahore University. It’s predictable from the very start but it works big time because of the solid casting – we did develop a connect with the protagonists, understand their dilemma. This became another movie based on a book that I am now keen on reading the book. It also gives a quite an insight into today’s Pakistan – if the author has to be believed – they aren’t that backward as we think they are, I was a little shocked to see that too. Even the background music and a couple of songs in the background add a different feel to it. I will definitely rate it a good 3/5 and will highly recommend it to all. If nothing else – it does works like a great thriller.

Oblivion (2013) - Science Fiction

Another so called “Post Apocalyptic Science Fiction” movie – in other words I will call it another disaster movie from Hollywood where the world has ended long back and aliens are still trying to extract what remains on earth with the help of a handful of idiot clones (read Tom Cruise, his wife and colleague) – I guess Hollywood has certainly run out of ideas and that’s all they could think of. Thanks God for making me miss this insane movie on big screen – still I had to make do with a 720p print of the same since wifey is a big big Tom Cruise fan – who walked out of the movie half way and asked me next day if it was any fun? The worst part of this movie is the name “Morgan Freeman” attached to it with precisely four and a half line that he says and some stupid expression on his face at the last scene of movie before he sacrifices his life for the betterment of human race saying “Wtf was I doing in this movie anyways?”. Imagine this – the world has ended and they (Whoever they were) still extracting some stuff out of earth, Tom Cruise who is about to go to some other planet to live his remaining life lives on a tower above New York City, wears a NYC Cap, his tower has a transparent swimming pool – wow – where is the water coming from? Don’t ask – he even has a house somewhere on earth – nobody obviously knows nothing about it and believe me – it’s a lakeside house with one fish in the pond, a working record player and a great collection of long play records too – oh yeah! Before I forget – he even saved a pair of Ray Ban’s too ;) Purpose of his life? to retrieve his lost memory and get united with his lost wife, finish those who are extracting earth’s remains and stop that cloning machine from creating a million clones of himself. All you get to see is again – destroyed NYC with one bridge here and statue of liberty there – a stadium in ruins after 2017 world cup and a couple of scenes shot on the terrace of “Empire State Building” in ruins. That’s such a laugh out loud stuff – I tell you. I will call it one of the worst made on the subject and hope that they do not come out with a sequel of any sort, give it a miss if you haven’t seen it yet and if you did – let me know if you liked it. No ratings.