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Tag: Deepa Gahlot

  • Critics just had to lower their standards and acknowledge that Salman Khan is beyond analysis, notes Deepa Gahlot

    Reviewing the Reviews: Critics mustered up 2-2.5 stars for ‘unjheleble’ Kick

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    Kick

    Directed by: Sajid Nadiadwala

    Starring: Salman Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, others

     

    The Americans say, why fix something that ain’t broke. So, why should the producer/director of a Salman Khan film try to fix the formula when it still works. Brainless actioners imported from the South and presented with some Bollywood flourishes and Salman Khan, whose name delivers hits.

     

    Critics just had to lower their standards and acknowledge that Salman Khan is beyond analysis. They mustered up 2 or 2.5 stars and lumped it.

     

    Shubhra Gupta used a word coined in Kick to describe it, unjheleble. “What this lovely word means is ‘unbearable’, though it can’t come remotely close to the tedium that the original describes. Salman’s leading lady says it to him. About him. Yes, gasp, addressing the one and the only Sallu Bhai, who appears in his latest In and As avatar in ‘Kick’. We duly crack a smile. Look, look, Bhai is sending himself up. He’s letting his heroine crack a good one at his expense. Because he knows that he is anything but. And that he’s just waiting for her to finish the scene and leave, to get into his `Dabangg’ mode, for the hall will burst into hoots and claps and whistles.”

     

    Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times called it outrageously silly. “Because a Salman Khan film isn’t about the plot. It’s about Salman, who once again plays his signature persona – a charming, playful, slightly crooked superman with a heart of gold. What’s fun is that Salman is in on the joke. He’s aware that he’s on the screen not to deliver a performance but to give us a good time. But even if you’re willing to ignore the logic-free story and buy heavily into the cult of Bhai, Kick is bumpy, and far too convoluted to deliver the joyride of a Dabangg.”

     

    Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV.com wrote, “To give the Devil his due, Kick isn’t half as bad as some of the Bollywood flicks that moviegoers have been subjected to in recent months. Kick is the Sajid Nadiadwala’s debut as a director. Sajid is a seasoned producer of money-spinning potboilers. It is no different from the films that his banner usually bankrolls. Kick revels in excess, which, for a film of its kind, is not necessarily a drawback. It dishes out everything in abundance. Eye-catching foreign locations, elaborately mounted action sequences, flashy pyrotechnics and stunts straight out of Hollywood superhero movies, song and dance routines bunged in randomly for occasional relief and loads of Dabangg-style dialoguebaazi are all par for the course here.”

     

    Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com commented, “Merely shooting a film in a fancy European locale or smashing a few cars and CGI choppers doesn’t amount to action, there has to be a certain amount of finesse, audacity, cunning and strategy to it all. As glimpses, it may stand out but as an action set piece, I found the execution absolutely flat. Nadiadwala may have the monies to sponsor the action but not the acumen to generate it. To think he employs four screenplay writers (Rajat Aroraa Chetan Bhagat, Keith Gomes) including him to concoct this senseless mess where scenes just cut off and begin randomly never bothering to explain what happened.”

     

    Aniruddha Guha of Time Out wrote, “Like all Eid releases featuring Khan, Kick too will probably notch-up record numbers due to its haphazard concoction of romance, comedy, action and drama, and the overwhelming domination of the 48-year-old actor, but the film is only marginally better than other awful Khan films in recent times –Jai Ho, Bodyguard, Dabangg 2. The setting seemed ripe for an entertaining no-brainer, but Kick will remain as forgettable as most money-spinners lately. What’s worst: The villain deserved a much better film.”

     

    Mihir Fadnavis of Firstpost ranted, “Nadiadwala may have parted ways with Sajid Khan. But in Kick, his debut film, he proves something historic: he is a much worse filmmaker than Khan. For years Khan has been well regarded as someone who doesn’t try very hard while acting in a film. With Kick, Nadiadwala shows what it really means to not make an effort. To say that he phones it in would mean he actually made the effort to make a call on sets. From the look of things, Nadiadwala couldn’t be bothered.”

     

    Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN grumbled: “The actor, fully aware of his strengths and of what his fans expect from him, is in goofball mode. He dials up the charm, and delivers flashes of amazing spontaneity, making you wish someone wrote a better film for him. Kick will no doubt break box-office records and earn many many crores for its makers and for its leading man, but it’s a shame he must settle for just this.”

     

  • Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt crisped up a rather soggy plot, notes Deepa Gahlot

    Reviewing the Reviews: Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania succeeds as teen date movie

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania

    Directed by: Shashank Khaitan

    Starring: Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Ashutosh Rana, Siddharth Shukla and others

     

    Shashank Khaitan’s Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania is a tribute to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which only goes to show that not much seems to changed in our country over the last two decades. Still, so eager is it to please, and so charming is the lead pair that critics must have given a little sigh before giving it three stars. It is meant as a teen date movie and it succeeds. Real life youngsters may be more mature that Humpty and Kavya, but this is Dharma Production and nobody ever grows up in this universe, all they need is love and a disco to shake a leg in.

     

    Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, both still as fresh and enthusiastic as they were in their first film together (Student of the Year) and currently the darling of the college set. Together they crisped up a rather soggy plot.

     

    Raja Sen of rediff.com was uncharacteristically kind. “The strength of Khaitan’s film lies in how it’s not trying too hard, it’s not trying at reinventing the wheel, and instead being honest to two characters who, it becomes gradually apparent, aren’t who they said they were — or, more importantly, they aren’t who they thought they were.”

     

    Aniruddha Guha of Time Out was not so impressed. “Selling a film as a “tribute to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” seems like a pretty mediocre idea. Several films have tried to recreate the DDLJ magic since Raj and Simran’s love story wooed us nearly 20 years ago, and the clichés and the familiarity have gotten slightly annoying. Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania projected itself as old wine in new bottle – a dated plot told with new actors and a fresh set-up – and that’s never really an inviting proposition. However, director Shashank Khaitan’s debut film, although lacking in originality, keeps afloat due to some smart lines and breezy humour, and the camaraderie between its two endearing leads, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt.”

     

    Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express commented, “Main toh paida hi hot hui thi“, says Ambala’s resident ‘pataka’ Kavya Pratap Singh.  And slays ‘Dilli da munda’ Humpty Sharma. The banter between the two is easy, natural, fun. That they will fall for each other is inevitable, because that’s the way they have been set up, and the process makes the first half of ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’ a breeze. I smiled all the way till the half way point. After the interval, it becomes another story. Or shall we say, the same old, same old story, in which the plot, which had been going swimmingly along despite its stretches, begins to meander, and lose its way.”

     

    Rajeev Masand of IBMLive raved over the stars, “The film rests on the appeal of its two leads who’re nothing short of terrific. Alia has a livewire presence, literally lighting up the screen when she’s in the frame. But it’s Varun who has the slight edge here, effortlessly pulling off both goofy and genuinely heartfelt. The film works – despite employing every predictable trope – because they’re on top of their game. Of the supporting players, Ashutosh Rana is well cast in the Amrish Puri role, nicely humanizing the character instead of leaving it out to dry as a lazy stereotype. ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’ comes peppered with smart dialogue, and filled with genuine affection for a cinematic blockbuster that it repeatedly references…but with flair.”

     

    Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV.com wrote, “Beyond its surface gloss and spry spirit, it is way too pat and predictable to be regarded as a worthy doff of the hat to one of the most successful films ever in the history of popular Hindi cinema.  A film whose male protagonist is called Humpty Sharma should have been humming with earthy wit and humour. It isn’t. For the most part, it swings wildly from the facetious to the fatuous. The lead pair of Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt is actually pretty impressive, but the material placed at the disposal of the young actors reeks of staleness. Shashank Khaitan’s directorial debut has been produced by Karan Johar, who incidentally played SRK’s friend in DDLJ and clearly hasn’t rid himself of the hangover yet.”

     

    Nandini Ramnath of Mint nailed it : “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania is an extended, 134-minute review of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge by a debutant writer and director who has watched the film closely enough to have his own spin on it. Shashank Khaitan’s film-making debut arrives 19 years after Aditya Chopra’s blockbuster became the gold standard of screen romance, and he has the necessary distance from the source material to unpack the conservatism that beats loudly at the heart of the original movie.”

     

  • Every critic gushed over Vidya Balan, not so much over 'Bobby Jasoos', notes Deepa Gahlot

    Reviewing the Reviews: Mostly 2.5 to three stars for Bobby Jasoos

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    Bobby Jasoos

    Directed by: Samar Shaikh

    Starring: Vidya Balan, Ali Fazal

     

    Vidya Balan worked hard on Bobby Jasoos– both acting and promoting. Every critic gushed over her, not so much over the film. The Hyderabadi backdrop and language appealed to all, and the attention to detail was admirable, but the weak plot dampened the excitement.

     

    Samar Sheikh making his debut as director, has done quite well, but a little more work on the script would have made this film a zinger. Still, it got mostly 2.5 to three stars, and some sighs of disappointment.

     

    Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express wrote, “‘Bobby Jasoos’ works till the time Vidya Balan gets to lead from the front: the courtship with her reluctant suitor is one of the high points of the film. But I wish this amiable, light-hearted yarn had more ‘zaika’ and ‘tadka’. And the songs are strictly unnecessary and uninteresting. Post-interval, the surprises leachout. So does the fun.”

     

    Nandini Ramnath of Mint underlined the film’s Muslim milieu, “The return-to-roots message is lightly conveyed in a movie that is bereft of weightiness. Shaikh is having too much fun to get on to a soapbox, and he doesn’t let the big emotional scenes breathe enough, but he does subtly score a victory on behalf of the so-called Muslim social—centred on Muslim characters, exploring ideas, values and issues facing the community, and set in an identifiably cultural and geographical milieu. The Muslim social is now an endangered species, with Muslim characters appearing in Hindi films mostly as deracinated urban creatures with neutral names such as Kabir and Zoya, or wild-eyed and destructive gangsters and terrorists.”

     

    Aniruddha Guha of Time Out felt let down. “And it really comes down to lazy filmmaking. The third act seems to have been given step-motherly treatment, the writing team struggling to put together the pieces and dispel the confusion without resorting to shortcuts and convenient plot twists. The finale is a mess – and bizarre – undoing a great deal of expectations the film builds up to that point. You look back, then, and find loopholes every step of the way – never a good feeling to carry with you outside a movie theatre.”

     

    Paloma Sharma of Rediff.com found the film confused. “As far as Bobby Jasoos goes, don’t judge a film by its title. Bobby Jasoos is a romantic comedy/drama and although it sometimes rises to the challenge of being a mystery, it seems too confused to know where to go thereafter. Debutant director Samar Shaikh can’t seem to figure out how to handle the many subplots of his film, letting them fight for control and the editing does nothing to help. Shaikh seems more focused on the visual aspects of the film, and while the cinematographer captures Hyderabad’s essence beautifully, pretty pictures will take you only so far (and not nearly far enough). Bobby Jasoos relies entirely on its performances to keep it going.”

     

    Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN commented, “It’s a shame then that she’s (Vidya Balan) let down by the very script itself, which — despite raising important questions about gender equality, financial independence of women, and parental obsession with marriage – fizzles out post-intermission. It needed more humor and more meat, but Vidya Balan comes out tops again.”

     

    Saibal Chattejee of NDTV.com was somewhat impressed. “Vidya Balan does more than just don multiple guises in Bobby Jasoos. She hits many high points as she effortlessly breezes through her role, bearing much of the weight of the film with aplomb in the bargain. The film does need the support of her shoulders and not only because director Samar Shaikh’s debut effort has its share of limp moments. Equally importantly, Bobby Jasoos isn’t the sort of flick that is willing to stoop to any level simply to inveigle average consumers of Bollywood kitsch. A two-hour caper film that thrives on restraint, Bobby Jasoos takes a serious turn in the second half but retains its warmth all the way through. It is consistently charming, if not particularly exhilarating, and benefits immensely from Balan’s energetic performance.”

     

    Saumil Gandhi of Mumbai Mirror raved, “Post Kahaani, it is clear that roles are now written with Vidya Balan in mind. Her spirited performance in the title role justifies this decision. Her effervescence rubs off on the proceedings and gives it an energy that drives the film. She is well supported by a talented ensemble, who show once again that casting good actors in bit roles pays off. There are few things to complain about with Bobby Jasoos. It’s a delightful caper with a lot of heart, and you root for both the film and it’s protagonist all the way till the end.”

     

    Tushar Joshi of DNA commented, “It’s a Vidya Balan film. There isn’t a single frame that she isn’t a part of. It is a role that is written keeping her mind. In fact there are scenes where her nuances and mannerism s seems to play off on their own, without conforming to the boundaries of the script. Vidya plays Bobby with full candor and sincerity. Her ability to switch from one emotion to the other in a jiffy is remarkable. Zarina Wahab, Supriya Pathak lend color and able support to the ensemble. The Hyderabadi setting, lingo, and flavour is aptly brought out by Samar Shaikh. If you haven’t visited the place, Bobby Jasoos will give you a slice of what to expect.”

     

    The views of Anuj Kumar of The Hindu matched those of the rest, “Vidya has once again made a laudable choice. A Muslim girl trying to enter a male domain, it could have easily gone the gimmicky way, but Samar doesn’t overplay the rebel theme and Vidya ensures that her Bobby doesn’t remain just another bubbly character. She is obviously the hero of the piece but apart from a couple of disguises she doesn’t unnecessarily flaunt it. Here is a heroine who has forgotten that she is being shot. The Hyderabadi dialect and setting makes the narrative all the more rooted.”

     

  • For an undemanding audience like ours, Ek Villain delivers enough thrills, writes Deepa Gahlot

    Reviewing the Reviews: Mostly 2 stars for Ek Villain, but not completely trashed

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    Ek Villain

    Directed by: Mohit Suri

    Starring: Ritesh Deshmukh, Remo Fernandes, Shraddha Kapoor, others

     

    Everybody is agreed that Mohit Suri is a decent enough director; what goes wrong with Ek Villain is that the plot lifted from much-admired Korean film I Saw The Devil is mangled into vapid romance and melodrama, studded with good music, that becomes the audience magnet.

     

    The film got mostly 2 stars, but didn’t get completely trashed. Riteish Deshmukh got most of the raves. For an undemanding audience like ours, the film delivers enough thrills.

     

    Rajeev Masand of IBNLive calls it “moderartely fulfilling,” which is just about it. “Suri, a competent director, who has a knack for ripping off foreign films and ‘Indianizing’ them by adding a romantic subplot and a superhit soundtrack, employs the same formula here. The victim on this occasion is the Korean revenge saga, ‘I Saw The Devil’. Suri and his writers tone down the violence, amp up the melodrama, throw in a love story, and give the psychotic serial killer a justification for his misogyny. It’s all very Hindi filmi, complete with corny lines that’ll make you roll your eyes in disbelief.”

     

    Raja Sen of Rediff.com criticises the very idea of a remake, “There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with the way we remake films.

     

    You know those often-hilarious South Asian DVD covers for pirated Hollywood films? Where they misspell the actor names and write a bizarre, ungrammatical and illogical version of the summary? With peculiar posters where content from two movies is often melded freakishly into one, as if all Tom Cruise movies were the same? Well, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that our filmmakers might not be remaking the films themselves but these odd DVD covers. (No, dear producers, that is not what you call a cover version.)

     

    Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express, writes, “There’s one in every love story, says the tagline of Ek Villain, and the film strains every sinew to justify it. The three main characters – Guru the loveless orphan grown into a gun-toting goon, Aisha the pretty girl busy ticking off items from a to-do list, and Rakesh the smarting-under-daily-humiliations-working-stiff — ricochet off each other, resulting in a film doused in schmaltzy romance and creepy violence.”

     

    Aniruddha Guha of Time Out comments, “It’s a pity Ek Villain is a rip-off. From the moment the trailers went on air and people started recognising similarities with Kim Jee-Woon’s spectacular I Saw The Devil, folks involved with Ek Villain have been rubbishing rumours about the plot being stolen from the Korean thriller. Which is a lot worse than not commenting at all, because when you watch the film you realise this is no “inspired” effort, but a faithful remake. But producers Ekta and Shobha Kapoor, who are set to make a killing at the box office, weren’t willing to shell out a miniscule part of their profits for the rights.”

     

    Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV.com writes, “There is one in every love story, the film’s tagline proclaims. Not true at all. Ek Villain has one too many, both among the dramatis personae on the screen and the men behind the scenes. The biggest of the villains in Mohit Suri’s Ek Villain is the screenplay itself. It is as muddled as a serial killer’s twisted mind and just as destructive. A vapid love story dovetailed into a confused psychological thriller, Ek Villain revolves around three characters that are severely damaged in varying ways.”

     

    Shubha Shetty Saha of Mid-day grumbles, “‘Ek Villain’ is touted as an intense film. It kind of lives up to it. But in its 140 minute duration, it ends up with so much relentless intensity that after a point you start looking for an escape from this heat. This is a classic example of a film that takes itself so seriously that it ends up looking manipulative and largely lacking in genuine emotions and soul.”

     

  • After the dud Himmatwala, the assumption was that Sajid Khan would have learnt his lesson and at least attempted to make a half-way decent film

    Reviewing the Reviews: Maximum zero stars for Humshakals

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    Hamshakals

    Director: Sajid Khan

    Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Ram Kapoor

     

    If there’s a universally reviled film this year, it’s Sajid Khan’s Humshakals, more so perhaps because some of his earlier films were undeserved hits, and after the dud Himmatwala, the assumption was that he would have learnt his lesson and at least attempted to make a half-way decent film.

     

    This one got the maximum zero stars, and the kindest critics gave it 2 stars. The Times of India’s 3 stars don’t count, because nobody takes the paper’s reviews seriously any more.

     

    Raja Sen of rediff.com tore into the film, “I’m not buying it, Sajid Khan. No director, I believe, can be senseless enough to think this is fine or remotely funny. Monkeys could direct a better film, and, going by what I’ve watched over the years, some have. But Humshakals couples its crude farce with a certain aggression, as if daring the audience to stay in their seats while it repeatedly spits at them. This is not filmmaking, this is sadism.”

     

    Aniruddha Guha of Time Out was scathing too, “Khan made three films before Himmatwala that some people found appealing enough for them to make money (Hey Babyy, Housefull andHousefull 2), and hence Khan decided the best way to get lucky is to get back to the old formula: The film must be set in London, a large part of which should be shot in a single house – a large mansion; there must be several characters; at least one song must be shot in the corridors of the house with the actors dressed in night suits. The climax of one of his earlier films was set in the royal palace of England, and so obviously this time he goes for the House of Commons. The interior, in both cases, resembles a room at, possibly, Chandivali studio.”

     

    Deepanjana Pal of Firstpost ranted, “The evil uncle keeps plotting against his nephew while his nephew counter plots with the help of his best friend and the three entirely ornamental heroines. All these plans and stratagems aren’t to further the plot but to provide Sajid Khan with opportunities to throw in his familiar brand of homophobic, sexist and generally offensive attempts at humour. Adding to the irritation are Himesh Reshammiya’s grating compositions and a soundtrack that is filled with idiotic sound effects.”

     

    Shubhra Gupta commented, “From past experience, you have to go into a Sajid Khan film wondering just how much of a dip there can be from the previous ones. This one is way beyond. Idiocy is a gentle term for what is unleashed upon us. You can also call it a two-and-a- half hour show reel of plot-less, witless, joylessness. I am all for political incorrectness. Silliness can be great fun. But brainless doesn’t have to translate to brain-dead, when it is done with smarts. ‘Humshakals’ has zero. Even in his really terrible moments, Sajid has managed to come up with one laugh out loud moment. Or two. Here there are none.”

     

    Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV.com wrote, “So you thought Sajid Himmatwala Khan could sink no further. Watch just 15 minutes of Humshakalsand you’d be disavowed of that notion. Even by the pitiable cinematic standards that the director has so defiantly set for himself, Humshakalsis the very pits. It scrapes the bottom of a barrel that seems to have no bottom at all. Humshakals is an execrable comedy of horrors that plumbs the depths of stupidity and crassness. If there is any purpose that this load of unalloyed trash serves, it is simply this: the film proves how delusional Sajid Khan is. He thinks this is cinema. Sorry, Mr. Khan, no matter how much money your film ends up with at the box office, the joke is entirely on you!”

     

    Nandini Ramnath writing in Mint commented, “Since everything is multiplied three times in Sajid Khan’s latest comedy, it’s totally fair to complain that Humshakals is thrice as excruciating as films in this genre. The movie, which barely improves on its trailer, is a failed over-the-top comedy in which every single moment is spelt out in skyscraper-high letters. The plot is partly set in an asylum but is bereft of the insane, David Dhawan-esque glee required to carry through its premise of triple roles. Khan pokes fun at himself in a couple of scenes, but he is unable to mine humour from the possibilities of two sets of lookalikes.”

     

    Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu wrote mockingly, “Trying to review or analyse this Sajid Khan film is like sending a child-crafted-claymated monkey for a brain scan and hoping to find proof of brain activity.If there was any justice in this world, the review for this film, as a fellow critic friend suggested, would just be a photograph of critics making farcical tongues-out-retarded-squint-faces at the camera with the caption: Hum Pagal Nahin Hai, Humala Dimaag Khalaab Hai. (We are not mad. Our brains don’t work).”

     

    Rahul Desai of Mumbai Mirror raged, “Sajid Khan and his writers produce the usual orgy of offensive, sexist and homophobic gags – including a bunch of randy midgets trying to rape three girls (the heroines, did I mention?), Prince Charles-lookalikes spouting Marathi in The House Of Commons, Cocaine Paranthas and Riteish doggy dry-humping a man’s leg.  Humshakals is a defiant film made by a man who is fast becoming a rebel without a cause. His audacity is almost frightening, but I was reassured by the pin-drop silence in the hall-one that’d accompany the screening of a gutwrenching war drama. This is, in many ways, not too different.”

     

    The review of Sarita Tanwar of DNA was one of the milder ones, “Sajid Khan is known for a certain kind of comedy. And it has always worked for him. He has his audience and he unapologetically caters to them. So while you might find the jokes corny or cheesy, the drag act a drag, and the comedy of errors a little overdone, his fans lap it up. There are many funny scenes in the film, even if it doesn’t work for you in entirety, you will enjoy it in parts.”

     

    Shubha Shetty Saha of Mid-day spoke for many when she wrote, “Imagine this. You slip and fall into a ditch. And then you get up cursing yourself for missing the step. And two steps later, you again slip and fall into a ditch. You get up and two steps later, you again slip and fall into a ditch… you are hopping mad and shocked by the end of this experience? Well, that kind of sums up one’s experience of watching ‘Humshakals’… ”

     

  • The remake of Tamil hit Thuppaki by AR Murugadoss was, as expected, slaughtered by critics, writes Deepa Gahlot

    Reviewing the Reviews: Holiday gets 1.5-2.5 stars

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    Holiday

    Directed by: A.R. Murugadoss

    Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Govinda, others

     

    The remake of Tamil hit Thuppaki by AR Murugadoss (best known for Ghajini) was, as expected, slaughtered by critics, with 1.5 to 2.5 star ratings.  The general opinion was that the Southern masala has been overdone, but Akshay Kumar somehow pulls it off. Sonakshi Sinha came in for a bit of battering for playing yet another dumb bimbo. Some reviewers complained of boredom, a slow pace and the absolutely nonsensical plot.

     

    The film has Akshay Kumar playing an armyman, whose holiday is spent tracking ‘sleeper cell’ terrorists in Mumbai and/or romancing the girl, who seems to do nothing except playing every sport known to humankind, in the course of one song.

     

    Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express commented, “‘Holiday’, the official remake of the monster Tamil hit ‘Thuppaki’, gives Akshay Kumar a chance to return to full combat mode. He plays a patriotic soldier willing to stretch a few rules in the line of duty, whether it is wielding sharp shears on a suspect’s finger, or shooting bad guys point blank. Till he’s going bang bang, he’s all right; the moment he gets romancing and joshing, he slides. So does the film.”

     

    Shubha Shetty Saha of mid-day was rather kind. “The film can boast of a fairly intelligent script that doesn’t allow the narration to get predictable even for a moment. More importantly, it respects the intelligence of the audience and leaves some bits for their imagination, without getting into the rigmarole of spoon-feeding them with justifications. Director AR Murugadoss keeps the ongoing events taut and gripping through the almost three hour duration of the film. There are some particularly good action scenes, which might let you forget the popcorn in your hand for more than ten minutes.  That, I think, is quite an achievement.”

     

    Sarita Tanwar of dna found some good things about the film and some bad. “There’s two ways to do an ‘army’  film. One is about war, tragedy and human loss. Another one is to make it like a secret agent/spy thriller. This one goes the other way but lacks the pace that is needed to keep the viewer interested. Yes, it is a remake of a hit Tamil film, but there was a lot of room for improvement. The songs are catchy but you wish the director had considered if it was really needed in a film like this. You keep wishing it was more real. It’s the frills that dilute the film.”

     

    Rajeev Masand of IBNLive wrote, “That this film is still not as awful as most typical Akshay Kumar starrers, despite several such harebrained sequences, is to the credit of director AR Murgadoss, who doesn’t let something as insignificant as common sense come in the way of telling a convenient story. In Holiday, Murgadoss remakes his own Tamil hit Thuppaki and he doesn’t tinker with the blueprint at all. – Madhureeta Mukherjee with typical Times of India gush wrote, “While the core plot is compelling and finely directed, the side-tracks – like bombs needing to be deactivated and the romantic angle, waste screen-time and the songs infiltrate the plot too often. The film is too long and needs a taut edit. It has flaws too, but doesn’t fail to entertain. Akshay’s stunts are jaw-dropping; he’s in top form and impressively leads the show without much support from his squadron of actors. Farhad (the lead villain) doesn’t leave much impact; and Sonakshi slides in for the song and dance.This one applauds the jawans who live in the jaws of death, and is a ‘wake up’ call for all the ‘sleepers’ that abound. Bravo!”

     

    Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV.com was not enthused. “Holiday lacks the sustained intensity and urgency of an edge-of-the-seat spy thriller. The script does not allow Akshay Kumar to be the no-nonsense action hero that would have held the film in better stead. His lover boy act only dilutes the larger-than-life persona of the fearless and single-minded mean machine that he is supposed to be.Akshay strives hard to make the most of a bad deal. He wins a battle or two, but loses the war.”

     

    Raja Sen of Rediff.com found it boring. “Holiday calls itself a thriller.  And indeed there is a thumping background score and much, much malarkey about sleeper cells and terrorists. In the middle stands Akshay Kumar, with unfortunately flat hair, holding a Rubik’s Cube, and making what appear to be very random assumptions. He’s ridding Mumbai of the scourge of terrorism, and good for him. Because these are simple action movie setups that, despite their harebrained processes, can lead to slick enough thrillers. Except Holiday ticks in slow-motion.”

     

    Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu, who had seen the Tamil version wrote, “You know you are getting a crash course on sleeper cells when your sleep cells are activated listening to gems of dialogue like: “All the sleeper cells will become coma cells”. Most of the laughs come unintentionally in the climax when the annoyed deputy villain gets bored of the unending action sequence between the hero and the villain (the remake sorely misses Vidyut Jamwal) and tells his men: “Shoot them both”.

    Modern terrorism is not about guns and bombs. Bombs only destroy bodies. Films like Holiday destroy minds.

    If there is any justice left in this world – or a God – this is the kind of pop culture terrorism that should rightfully bomb.”

     

    Nandini Ramnath of Mint analysed: “Holiday is to Thuppakki what Ghajini was to Ghajini-a mostly faithful Hindi remake of a Tamil blockbuster. A.R. Murugadoss’ entertainer displays greater fidelity to its source than did his Ghajini reboot, down to the bloated running length of 170 minutes. The situations are the same, the dialogue is translated verbatim and the heroine hasn’t yet grown a brain, but the Hindi version misses out on the charisma of its leading man. Holiday’s Akshay Kumar is a poor match for Tamil superstar Vijay, who has built a career out of supplanting average acting skills with practised insouciance. Thuppakki translates into loaded gun, but although Kumar is gifted with a crowd-pleasing script and ample room to showcase his fighting skills, he is altogether slower on the draw.”

     

  • Rajkummar Rao and Manav Kaul carry the film on their able shoulders, and fetch the film mostly 3 star ratings, even by critics who expressed some disappointment, notes Deepa Gahlot

    Reviewing the Reviews: Most 3 stars for Citylights

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    Citylights

    Directed by: Hansal Mehta

    Starring: Rajkummar Rao, Patralekha, others

     

    Hansal Mehta’s Citylights, the official remake of Metro Manila, is one of those films that critics are obliged to praise, because it is sincere, tries to take a stand and tells a story that so many city dwellers would understand, because they also came from outside and struggled to make a home.

     

    Rajkummar Rao and Manav Kaul carry the film on their able shoulders, and fetch the film mostly 3 star ratings, even by critics who expressed some disappointment.

     

    Shubra Gupta of Indian Express wrote, “The result is a grim yarn which moves you intermittently, but whose patchiness is papered over by a fine performance from Rao. It could have been more impactful if the songs, and some amount of improbability, had been kept at bay. The lyrics keep intruding into the narrative, trying to wring sympathy. This takes away from the film, and injects drippiness in a film which needed none : the story, despite its occasional bumps, is enough to make us feel.”

     

    Sanjukta Sharma of Mint commented, “Mehta’s film festers in the story’s limited scope. That is obvious in almost every scene. Songs are tools for emphasis-literal translations of emotions supposed to define a scene, they belt right into the tears and the histrionics of the couple. Like a potboiler, repetition packs the narrative, and the camera seems a dab-the film does not have a distinct visual language, oddly oscillating between glossy B-grade Bollywood and low-light candidness.”

     

    Mihir  Fadnvis of Firstpost.in gave it one of the few scathing reviews. “Metro Manila is a neat little drama-thriller that brings a quietly artistic taste of poverty, sacrifice and desperation to a sub-genre that is disinterested in pandering to movie clichés. Hansal Mehta, the director of the terrific and understated Shahid and his star Rajkumar Rao were the perfect choices to remake Metro Manila. Oh boy, what a disappointment. Metro Manila vaulted between sensitivity, action, pacing, character development and social commentary, and thanks to solid direction it all just clicked perfectly. In CityLights all of those elements are placed haphazardly, and the film becomes a mediocre afternoon soap.”

     

    Rajeev Masand titled his review Bright Lights Big Pity and commented (on CNN-IBN): “‘Citylights’, an official remake of the British-Filipino hit ‘Metro Manila’, isn’t a bad film by any measure, but it does feel repetitive and long, even at a running time of less than two hours. Technically too, the film offers no surprises. In the original film, because the protagonist was a fish out of water, the audience discovered the city of Manila and its seedy side along with him and through his eyes. But Mehta shoots Mumbai through the same jaundiced lens as dozens of films in the past.”

     

    Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times was mildly critical. “Citylights is the official remake of the award-winning Filipino-language film Metro Manila. The moving story about the horrors an immigrant family endures in the big city, translates perfectly to India and director Hansal Mehta stays faithful to the original. He bolsters the powerful narrative with fine performers – Manav Kaul as Vishnu, Deepak’s charming but slippery partner in a private security firm, and debutant Patralekhaa as his wife. But the disjointed and blaring background music doesn’t work. The lovemaking scenes are equally gratuitous. Also, the city of Mumbai remains generic and never becomes a character in itself. Still, Citylights is persuasive. And it will hit you harder if you haven’t seen the original.”

     

    Saibal Chatterjee of Ndtv.com raved, “An intense human drama delivered in the form of a riveting thriller, CityLights deals with the oft-repeated theme of rural migration.  Director Hansal Mehta imparts both weight and style to the film. He does so with impressive precision and lightness of touch. CityLights is the story of a couple whose rustic innocence is suffocated by the soul-crushing challenges of living and surviving in a big city. CityLights may not be exceptionally unusual in terms of its storyline, but Mehta’s modulated, deeply felt treatment of the grim narrative material informs the film with a sense of urgency and unfailing relevance.”

     

    Shubha Shetty Saha of mid-day wrote, “However, even though the direction and performances are impressive, the script seems manipulated and contrived at certain points, as if designed to pull the emotional trigger of the audience. Also, there are some glaring loopholes which could have been avoided. Having said that, do watch this film as it narrates the sensitive-yet-disturbing story of how human greed and selfishness can wreck lives. It also shows how unfortunately survival in a big city more often than not comes at the cost of moral values.”

     

  • Tiger Shroff has been the target of some rather nasty online mauling, notes Deepa Gahlot

    Reviewing the Reviews: Scathing 1 to 2.5 stars for Heropanti

    By Deepa Gahlot

    Heropanti

    Directed by: Sabbir Khan

    Starring: Tiger Shroff, Kriti Sanon, Sandeepa Dhar & others

     

    It was pretty obvious that Heropanti was made to launch Tiger Shroff and no effort was spared in marketing him well. The problem with having such high level promotion is that the same media can turn around and be brutal. Poor Tiger has been the target of some rather nasty online mauling. That apart the reviews were mostly scathing– 1 to 2.5 star ratings. The actor got away relatively lightly, but the film was shredded to bits.

     

    Aniruddha Guha of Time Out commented, “Heropanti gives him scope to show off his (action) talents in snatches, but clamps him down with a storyline which annoyingly unfolds in one house for a large part, before moving into DDLJ-territory. Director Sabbir Khan abandons the promise of a mindless action entertainer in favour of a more mindless emotional drama, which he naturally finds himself inept at. It’s hard to figure why anyone would entrust Khan with the launch of a major star-son, given he directed the atrocious Kambakkht Ishq before this film.”

     

    Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express sneered, “Bablu (Tiger) and Dimpy (Sanon) tread the tired paths Bollywood has ordained for young lovers for the past 25 years: he’s the dulha and has to make off with his dulhaniya, but not before the mandatory song-and-dance and rona-dhona. Tiger has a fine set of ripped muscles which he shows off in shirtless scenes. He does a good job of wiping blood off his chin, and holding off goons. He can do action, sure. But you are also required to say your lines and romance your girl: did no one think of those crucial things?”

     

    Anupama Chopra saw star quality in Shroff Jr. “Heropanti is designed to do exactly one thing – make us like Tiger Shroff, and that it does exceedingly well. The film is a showcase for Tiger’s talents; he is an incredible acrobat who does backflips in dance sequences and effortlessly leaps off walls in action scenes. He is a smooth dancer.  His body seems chiselled out of granite – director Sabbir Khan makes sure Tiger drops his shirt often, so that we have ample time to ponder his abs. In places, the dialogue delivery is off and his startling pink lips are a tad awkward. But he has a very solid screen presence. Can Tiger act? I don’t know. Is he a star? Absolutely. The rest of this film, however, is comically bad. A remake of 2008 Telugu film Parugu, Heropanti is purposefully loud masala. The screechy pitch is accentuated by ear-shattering background music. This love story set against a feudal Haryanvi backdrop has no room for subtlety, irony or even a quiet moment.”

     

    Mihir Fadnavis of Firstpost.in wrote, “The best thing that could be said about Heropanti is that it is not as terrible as Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar films. The second best thing about it is that Tiger Shroff may be effeminate, but he’s a likable guy who can do some truly amazing stunts. This is where the positive aspects of Heropanti end, because everything else in the movie is a raging river of stupidity.”

     

    Paloma Shroff of rediff.com was dismissive too. “Heropanti follows the Bollywood formula and includes 5873 random songs which, if devoid of visualisation, are a good, time-pass listen. Over all, Heropanti is an amusing yet bland modification of the classic Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayengey, featuring some of the most fake Haryanvi accents this North Indian has ever heard. The film could do with more action and less drama. The most masala-less masala movie I’ve watched in a while, it will have you echoing the second most (over)used dialogue in the film, “Kab jayegi teri heropanti?”

     

    Nandini Ramnath blames the screenplay. “Building a sense of anticipation clearly isn’t director Sabbir Khan’s suit. The screenplay lurches from one scene to the next, piles on the risible dialogue, desultorily cuts to a song every now and then, and fails to notice that Bablu and Dimpy are so awkward together that it’s not surprising when Prakash Raj’s character asks Bablu why his daughter has chosen her lover over her father.”

     

    Sarita Tanwar was relatively mild, “The story takes you back to the early nineties. Except that the backdrop is now the north. Boy Babloo (Tiger Shroff) falls in love with the girl at first sight. She turns out to be daughter of a goon, who has captured him to get the address of the boy who has eloped with his older daughter. Soon, she too begins to have feelings for him. Father senses. Which way would the story go ahead now? It goes the same route as DDLJ or Maine Pyar Kiya.”

     

    Rajeev Masand was not impressed, “Directed by Kambakht Ishq’s Sabbir Khan, Heropanti is a remake of the Telugu hit Parugu, and is modeled as a throwback to those old-fashioned films of the 80s in which a tough-as-nails hero could vanquish a dozen enemies without breaking a sweat. There’s a damsel in distress, a selfish control-freak father, and a never-ending supply of menacing uncles who exist only to keep the hero and heroine apart. The film ticks all the usual boxes, but to be fair Khan occasionally puts an interesting spin on rusty formulas, delivering what is at best a frustratingly inconsistent film.”

     

    Suhani Singh analyses the film’s ‘hero,’ “There are many things that debutant Tiger Shroff can do with ease. Back flips, aerial kicks, hip hop dancing. But acting is not one of them. Shroff is 24. To gender reverse Britney Spears’s lyrics, he is not a boy not yet a man. It doesn’t help that when he smiles, viewers instantly forget his machismo. It’s a sweet smile which doesn’t make you blush, but confused if it’s coming in happiness or pain. And unfortunately Tiger smiles too often in Heropanti, often for no reason.”

     

  • Most critics – particularly women among them – were let down by the domesticization of the firebrand heroine, writes Deepa Gahlot

    Reviewing the Reviews: 1.5 to 3.5 stars for Revolver Rani

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    Revolver Rani

    Directed by: Sai Kabir Srivastav

    Starring: Kangna Ranaut, Piyush Mishra, Vir Das, Zakir Hussain, Zeishan Quadri, others

     

    The memory of Rani in the recent Queen was so fresh in everybody’s minds, that an encore was expected from Kangana Ranaut. She did not disappoint, but Revolver Rani, a Quentin Tarantino-inspired violent romp in the badlands of Madhya Pradesh did.

     

    Most critics-particularly the female ones-were let down the domesticization of the firebrand heroine.  The film got 1.5 to 3.5 star ratings, which must have confused readers.

     

    Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express found the film tiresome. “The Rani in ‘Queen’ won our hearts because she was believable every inch of the way. This Rani, who hefts revolvers and shoots to kill, is neither wholly a cartoon figure, nor completely credible. This confusion makes us stop suspending disbelief, and ‘Revolver Rani’ becomes a tiresome Bollywoodesque trudge through the Chambal, and its men and one woman posturing with guns, and the standard corrupt ‘netas’ and complicit cops.”

     

    Harshada Rege of DNA complained of the running time. “This would have been a great party if only it wasn’t so long. But one has to applaud Kangana Ranaut, who could give all the dacoits in B-Town a run for their loot, for another great performance. She plays the Venice-loving, gun-trotting politician in Chambal with much aplomb. From a vulnerable Rani in Queen to the mighty Alka Singh in Revolver Rani, the actress sure knows how to make and then, equally easily, break the mould.”

     

    Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV.com was one of the few who raved, “When it’s a mad, mad, mad world, trust Kangana Ranaut to pull out the stops. As the trigger-happy ‘hero’ of Revolver Rani, the irrepressible lead actress dives head first into the deep end of the moral cesspool that writer-director Sai Kabir conjures up in his first released film. Alka Singh of Morena is no ordinary hinterland hell-raiser. She flashes metallic bustiers, sports her trademark frizzy hairdo, and takes on a perceptibly darkened skin tone. Kangana’s character is a fire-spewing marauder who nurses a secret desire to be a mother and a hausfrau. While she lets her gun do much of the talking on her behalf, she aspires for the simple joys of womanhood.  The film flits from the personal to the political, the emotional to the egregious, and the absurd to the deadly serious. For the most part, Revolver Rani hits the bull’s eye.”

     

    Paloma Sharma of Rediff.com found the film confused, “Revolver Rani is perfect on paper but if it really wanted to generate that spark, it should have probably taken the character-centric route. Somewhere along the way, the story disappears and so does the editor, or so it seems. A lot of Revolver Rani seems inspired from Quentin Tarantino films — the powerful female character with guns template, the title track and the aesthetically portrayed violence are strongly reminiscent of many of his previous films.Even the animated bits seem to be borrowed from Kill Bill Vol 1. This does end up spoiling the novelty factor. Revolver Rani could have been the film of the year. It is sad that it chose to be a confused story instead.”

     

    Tanushree Bhasin of Firstpost.in commented, “It takes all of fifteen minutes to realise that you are watching a desi version of Kill Bill in Revolver Rani. Its got Quentin Tarantino written all over each and every sequence, the director having broken the film down into just that – a series of well-orchestrated sequences. And in tune with director Sai Kabir’s aesthetic inspiration, Revolver Rani exudes Tarantino style pulpy kitsch, much to the amusement of an unsuspecting Indian audience.”

     

    Nandini Ramnath of Mint wrote, “A movie in which the gender roles are firmly reversed and Alka literally calls the shots, makes lawmakers and lawbreakers quake in their boots, and demands and gets sex at will, has a most curious take on Rohan’s plight. His emasculation runs parallel to Alka’s feminization, and it’s not clear whether debutant director and writer Sai Kabir has entirely reasoned out the consequences of his characterization.”

     

    Shubha Shetty-Saha of mid-day panned it too. “The film starts with much promise, with a kind of quirkiness and black humour that fits well with the subject in hand. The narration and the background music work in absolute tandem to bring us a satire that succeeds in making you chuckle more often than not. But unfortunately, some scenes are so long drawn out that the whole impact begins to fizzle out by the end of it. Sharper editing would have perhaps worked towards retaining the crispness of the characters.”

     

  • The ratings ranged from 2 to 3 stars, but everyone agreed on one aspect of the film though-the utterly charming Alia Bhatt

    Reviewing the Reviews: Utterly charming Alia in ‘2 States’

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    2 States

    Directed by: Abhishek Varman

    Starring: Arjun Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Ronit Roy, Amrita Singh, Revathy, others

     

    Chetan Bhagat’s successful novel about a North-South romance had some insights into urban India, even though the tone was flippant.

     

    The book caught the fancy of young audiences, but bored or exhausted most critics, who are not Bhagat fans to begin with. The ratings ranged from 2- 3, but the praise was grudging. Everyone agreed on one aspect of the film though – the utterly charming Alia Bhatt.

     

    Sudhish Kamath writing in The Hindu gave complete credit to the book. “The movie adaptation of 2 States reiterates why Chetan Bhagat is so successful. His books are like the first draft of screenplays – with a lot of stuff that can be edited out and rewritten – the reason why he is among the most criticised author of our times. But then, his books also tell us stories of a middle class India and its values – a country on the cusp of change and dealing with it in a way we can relate to – the reason why he is among the most popular storytellers of our times.”

     

    Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express commented, “Pretty Tam Brahm ‘ponnu’ plus ‘hatta katta’ Punjabi munda equals to match made in heaven? If you go by ‘2 States’, yes, but getting to it is long and arduous. The film sets out to be a solid, emotionally satisfying romcom, and goes well for a bit but then turns into a too-stretched-out ‘jhagda’ between the two sets of North-South parents. And the romance gets short shrift.”

     

    Aniruddha Guha of Time Out wrote, “Director Abhishek Varman’s debut film is about parents making peace with the decisions their children make even when they may have something different planned for them.

     

    That’s an interesting premise – not entirely similar to the films we watched growing up, where lovers revolted against families, or spent weeks to sabotage a wedding, or simply eloped. What helps – as with many good films made in Mumbai lately – is the novel take on a conventional story. Hussain Dalal’s dialogues lend the film an air of everyday mundaneness, which is refreshing in a mainstream film.”

     

    Sanjukta Sharma of Mint ranted, “Campus romance, family strife, clash of austere South and profligate North, post-global India neutered to ugliness-Abhishek Varman’s 2 States, like the novel by bestselling author Chetan Bhagat on which it is based, has the ingredients of a profitable primetime TV commodity. Ego clashes of the saas-bahu kind abound in this story. Binod Pradhan’s cinematography makes the big screen adaptation somewhat justifiable, as does Alia Bhatt’s screen persona and performance-she fits perfectly in as the upper middle-class Tamil heroine from Chennai. But the 149-minutes of the film’s running time, swelling with stale North-South attributes, is overstretching the material. This is not the Eighties, and K Balachnader’s Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981) can’t represent this great divide. 2 States is more like the Hum Aapke Hain Koun…! (1994) of the 21st century. But the girl speaks up, and speaks sense. The rest is a cosmetically modern middle-class India.”

     

    Saibal Chattejee of NDTV.com complained about the length and pace. “Debutant director Abhishek Varman’s adaptation of Bhagat’s characteristically facile but dispiritingly popular story is at best a pretty looking film with a likeable young lead pair that thrives on staying within their limitations. Talking of limitations, 2 States is hamstrung primarily by the vacuity of its pivotal situations. The film does have some moments of inspiration, like when the hero, armed with four rings, proposes collectively to the girl’s family over lunch. But these are too few and far between to add up to much in the final analysis.

     

    The trouble is that the impending wedding remains impending far too long to sustain interest. Halfway through the second half, one desperately wants the rigmarole to be over and done with.”

     

    Suhani Singh of India Today was disappointed. “2 States appeals, in brief stints, when it looks at the clash in customs and behaviours between the two communities. For instance, when Krish’s mother complains that Ananya’s parents didn’t get her anything while she spent Rs.2,000 to get Ananya’s mom a silk sari, it is amusing and also believable. Tubby-Parik’s background score is exaggerated and often superfluous, offering a mix of bad ringtones and operatic music which doesn’t sync with the events unfolding on screen. It makes it seem that Varman is not confident in the abilities of his leads to pull off the drama. Post the interval, the film almost runs like a maha episode of a melodramatic Indian soap.”

     

    Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN summarized the problem with the film. “Madrasis are dark, Punjabis are cash-obsessed, and never the twain shall meet. Those familiar prejudices make for a legitimate movie pitch, but ‘2 States’, directed by first-timer Abhishek Varman, is a frustrating case of a promising premise that doesn’t fully fructify into a compelling film.”

     

  • The idea of a ghost standing for elections against Dharavi goon has delicious possibilities, which, most critics felt, degenerated into preachiness, notes Deepa Gahlot

    Reviewing the Reviews: Overall appreciation for Bhootnath Returns

    Bhootnath Returns

    Directed by: Nitesh Tiwari

    Starring: Parth Bhalerao, Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Anurag Kashyap, Usha Jadhav, Sanjay Mishra, Brijendra Kala & Usha Nadkarni

     

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    The timing of Nitesh Tiwrai’s Bhootnath Returns is perfect. At election time, the film makes a case for voting, and that too for the right candidate.

     

    The idea of a ghost standing for elections against  Dharavi goon has delicious possibilities, which, most critics felt, degenerated into preachiness.  The ratings went from 2.5 to 3.5 which means overall appreciation.

     

    Shubhra Gupta of the Indian Express complained, “The whole is less than the sum of its parts. The pace slackens, the ghost-and-boy rap begins to drag, and there are far too many threads hanging – a Harry Potteresque compact between ‘bhootlings’ and earthlings, and a clean-the-system-of-all-ills-romp, overlaid with some weepiness and an item-song-in-the-slums full of blonde babes dancing alongside the Big B and the small boy.”

     

    Aniruddha Guha of Time Out is kinder. “A ghost contesting elections? Such a silly plot, you say. But when it’s Bachchan – the granddaddy of all things larger-than-life – you buy in with gleeful joy and little effort. If anything, it’s a smart idea, one that also reflects the current mood in the nation. However, Bhootnath Returns could have benefitted immensely from some judicious snipping. As on most occasions, though, watch this one for Bachchan and that indefatigable spirit.”

     

    Tushar Joshi of DNA wrote, “While the idea might be interesting, the execution is quite weak. Tiwari stretches out the plot way too much weighing it down with multiple subplots, characters and unnecessary long drawn monologues. The Sahib song with images depicting the dark side of society could have been a passing reference, instead it ruptures whatever momentum the film had built till that point. Similarly the second half is a mine field laden with over the top speeches about election and the importance of voting. Even though the sentiment is sincere the effort taken to convey it to the audience sounds dated and old. Also the scenes with the Ghost Headquarters in the climax and the predictable conclusion the film comes to, prevents Bhootnath Returns from rising above the ordinary.”

     

    Saibal Chatterjee agreed with the majority opinion. “The film’s good intentions and the generally competent and controlled execution are marred by a screenplay riddled with inconsistencies. For one, Bhoothnath Returns, directed and co-written by Nitesh Tiwari, is overlong and overstretched. It labours its point about the plight of the poor and the voiceless with the kind of unconcealed zeal that not only robs it of any possibility of achieving subtlety, but also smacks of the hollowness of an election time speech. The film’s unusual plot premise loses its zing rather quickly as it turns increasingly ludicrous and sanctimonious in its naïve tirade against a whole array of ills that plague the country. The final quarter of Bhoothnath Returns could well be passed off as an Election Commission of India video exhorting people to exercise their franchise and overthrow the corrupt.”

     

    Rajeev Masand of IBNLive appreciated the film’s heart. “The film’s good bits, however, often feel squashed under the weight of its melodrama and its bloated running time of 2 hours and 35 minutes. There is some lofty sermonizing by at least two different characters, and an over-manipulative song-montage of abject poverty that attempts to squeeze a lump out of your throat.

     

    I will also say that depicting violence against children to appeal to one’s emotions is wrong on so many levels. Still, “Bhoothnath Returns” is anchored by terrific performances from its central players: Boman Irani, Amitabh Bachchan, and the surprise packet that is Parth Bhalerao.”

     

    Suprateek Chatterjee writing in firstpost.com commented, “For the most part, barring perhaps the last half hour of the film, its most shamelessly manipulative moments are tempered with deliberate humour. What’s heartening about this film is that it seems to be fully aware that it is being presented as an ‘election product’, and it seems to take that in its stride and play it as its strength. Talk about shrewd politics.”

     

    Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu wrote, “While it’s a relevant film this season that also educates the masses on the importance of casting their vote, Bhoothnath Returns is far from perfect. It almost forgets Akhrot in the second half and turns the little hero into Bhoothnath’s sidekick. It is simplistic, idealistic, probably even naive to assume that the victory of one independent candidate could bring around change. It doesn’t want the political reality of India come in the way of a good Bollywood story, but interrupts the flow with a documentary montage of what India has become to illustrate the headlines.”

     

     

  • Main Tera Hero is as nonsensical as any David Dhawan film, and how a viewer responds to it depends entirely on what is expected from the film, notes Deepa Gahlot

    Reviewing the Reviews: 1.5 to 3 star ratings for Main Tera Hero

    Main Tera Hero

     

    Directed by: David Dhawan

     

    Starring: Varun Dhawan, Sonam Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Nargis Fakhri, Ileana

     

    By Deepa Gahlot

     

    David Dhawan had never been the critics’ favourite, and Govinda even less so. But come Main Tera Hero with Varun Dhawan doing a Govinda, and everyone started feeling nostalgic for vintage Dhawan.

     

    Main Tera Hero is as nonsensical as any Dhawan film, and how a viewer responds to it depends entirely on what is expected from the film. If expectations are kept low, then the film doesn’t disappoint too much. It got one 1.5 to 3 star ratings, but most hovered at 2.5.

     

    Shubha Shetty Saha of did-day paid a tribute to Govinda. “Dhawan tries to recreate the tried-and-tested formula with ‘Main Tera Hero’, although with one difference: Varun Dhawan replaces Govinda. But Dhawan plays it extra-safe by making Varun clone all of Govinda’s mannerisms, his special dialogue delivery and also his tight white trousers look. One doesn’t really mind the “inspired” performance, considering that Govinda deserves the tribute, but the whole exercise only makes you miss Govinda even more.”

     

    Nandini Ramnath of Mint expressed the same thing in different words: “In which David Dhawan makes his son Varun Dhawan, in only his second movie, work very, very hard-the young man fights, dances, sings, romances, kisses, schemes his way out of jams, dives into pools and trouble, dives onto beds and out of trouble, has two-way conversations with idols of various faiths, shows off his shaven and ribbed chest, delivers punch dialogue, pays tribute to Govinda and tries to do a Salman Khan.”

     

    Aniruddha Guha of Time Out commented: “Varun Dhawan is probably the reason this film got made in the first place and while he is no actor (yet), he seems to enjoy what he does and that translates well on screen. Breezy at best and hilarious in parts, Main Tera Hero is a trip down memory lane, where the original king of comedy – I mean David Dhawan here – regains some of his touch. Let’s go the whole hog next time, Mr Dhawan.”

     

    Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express wrote, “Main Tera Hero’ is not as ghastly as a few recent Dhawans have been, but only because it takes itself not at all seriously, and becomes as silly as it should be for some of the second half . The rest of it has its share of the usual unsightly and tasteless gags about women and protruding body parts and the mandatory fat guy in a wheelchair.”

     

    Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV.com was mild in his criticism, “It is with much trepidation that one approaches Bollywood comic romps these days. They tend to hinge more on heavy-handed buffoonery than on genuine hilarity. Main Tera Hero has both strains of comedy, the crass and the truly funny, but in the end it is the latter that dominates. The sheer absurdity of the screwball plot does not weigh unduly heavy on the film because the likeable oddballs that populate it quickly get on top of things. Of course, amid the frantic pace of Main Tera Hero, the one-film-old and understandably over-enthusiastic Varun Dhawan is frequently in danger of tripping over the line. Obviously keen to graduate from student to superstar, the lead actor dances, fights and romances his way through the film with great gusto. He manages to retain his balance. No mean feat that.”

     

    Paloma Sharma of rediff.com found it paisa vasool. “Main Tera Hero rests almost solely on the bases of strong performances extracted by a tough taskmaster, director David Dhawan — who makes a surprisingly clean film for the most part but doesn’t seem to have been able to resist the temptation to indulge in a few less-than-tasteful jokes post-interval.

     

    The second half is primarily where the problem lies. The script dwindles slightly. Too many characters with too many subplots emerge, messing things up for a bit. Nevertheless, Main Tera Hero keeps you on your feet and Milap Zaveri’s crisp dialogues never fail to extract a chuckle. Artfully edited and kept at just the right length of 128 minutes, it never gives you a chance to yawn.

     

    Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN ranted: “David Dhawan’s comedies, the best of them, have been cheerfully low-IQ enterprises, constructed around predictable plot lines involving lookalike protagonists, mistaken identities, cheating husbands, and triangular love stories. When Dhawan was at the top of his game, one or any of these standard ideas would have been enough for him to bang out a film filled with non-stop laughs.But Main Tera Hero, starring the filmmaker’s son Varun, is a series of forced contrivances. The humor feels labored and manufactured, never arising spontaneously from the situations.”

     

    Surprisingly The Hollywood Reporter carried a review. Lisa Tresing wrote, “With a few choice hip thrusts, a wink and a knack for snappy repartee, the impish Dhawan is clearly being groomed as a comic hero in the Govinda mold – not a bad thing, though he’s missing that former superstar’s naughty spark. Dhawan’s got passable dance moves, too, though he’ll never capture Govinda’s unique blend of doughy vulnerability and sparkling charisma, or the older star’s gift for making dance moves look like he just dreamed them up.”