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.