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For a really long time in the movie, Veera and Bhaati, played by Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda, are clueless of what is happening to them and where they are heading. Ditto audience! You're caught in a journey of two characters -somewhat joined by destiny and mostly forced together by Bollywood sensibilities. Their contradicting backgrounds are an obvious Bollywood pretext. And so we learn that as different as they may appear, they are victims of a troubled past and somehow not so different in how lonely and insecure they both are in their respective presents. Not the first time we heard that, but exploring the idea of being trapped in your own house and feeling liberated as a kidnappee might be a first, a Bollywood first. Yet, in the end the movie is not a very wholesome experience. It is easily Imitiaz  Ali's most experimental work and most definitely his least impressive. Over the past decade, Imitiaz Ali's work has been rife with endearing characters enabling a poten...

"I will watch this movie only because of Aamir khan", a friend of mine told me, as we merrily discussed the dhoom 3 weekend. I am sure thousands of Indians echoed that sentiment. With his choices and his devotion to every choice he makes, the audience, his fans and critics have learnt to expect a certain brand of perfection when it comes to Aamir khan! So you buy your ticket, pick your popcorn and wait. The ads, promos and previews end and the movie begins. For the first 10 odd minutes of the movie, Aamir is set to impress you, without uttering a single word. First with action, and then his tap dance. Kudos to this guy, who at this accomplished stage of his career, still tries to impress you. It is this very quality that earns him respect and keeps him on the edge of negative criticism. Dance, for example, was never aamir's strength and as hard as he tries, he doesn't manage to unlearn his native 90s swagger n stances. Tap dance, contemporary, hip hop. Why...

My brother gifted me a 2 nd generation video iPod back in 2006. That was my first brush with an Apple product. That was such a turning point. “You’ve tasted blood”, mocked a friend of mine, “and this is a point of no return.” He was so right. 7 years and 3 more apple products later, I find myself using these products as if they were a “natural extension of myself” – much like what Jobs envisioned his products to be. So much so, that without knowing anything about Steve Jobs, I was a fan of the person behind the product. I was in awe of a man whose attention to detail and quest for perfection, changed the way the world functioned. He pushed the enveloped, created products that create a new market, new secondary matter of applications accessories – millions of dollars, countless jobs! And as much as I believed that it was never a one-man-army, it was somehow believable that Jobs was the fountainhead of that vision. When Steve Jobs passed away in 2011, I was engulfed in a s...

Now, Mr. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra… I understand this is “inspired” by a true story.. I also agree that Milkha’s story is truly inspiring, so why did I come out of the theater 3+ hours later feeling not really inspired? The movie begins with a tragedy.. We are told that Milkha Singh who was the favorite to win the 400m mens event at the Rome Olympics in 1960, unfortunately looked behind and gave away his lead in the final.. losing the bronze in a photo-finish  As he turns, we are shown blurry ghosts of his past.. This isn’t the first time he has heard the titular cry “ Bhaag Milkha Bhaag ”. His first tragedy was the trauma surrounding partition. He grew up to be robber of sorts, fell for a girl who wouldn't marry a goon. He joined army to “become someone”. Harsh training, bullying and 2 fantastic coaches later, he has the coveted “ India ” blazer. So when he goes to seek marital alliance of the girl he oh-so-loved, he’s told she’s already married. A...

There were at least two moments in the movie where I had goosebumps. Without giving away any spoiler, the commonality in those two moments was the combination of a terrific performance heralded to another level by a soundtrack that speaks for the film. Needless to say, a lot of  credit goes to the makers - the director and the writers for creating such moment(s).  Raanjhana is pushed from good to great because of the acting, writing and music. In what is a complete relief, the characters don't fall prey to Bollywood climax identity crisis which I held as a tragic weakness of yeh jawani.. Here are it's merits in random order:  The performance of the protagonist- Dhanush, after Ranveer Singh, is a great example that Bollywood does once in a while, look beyond looks and give rank outsiders so much as a "chance". To dhanush's favor is his body of work, kolaveri fame (and of course the rajnikant connection). But unlike Ranveer, Dhanush can boast of no si...

You may identify with this: the cricket team you supported needed 36 runs to win in the last over. A very capable batsman was on strike. The first 5 balls went for sixes and on the last ball he hits a  desperate  shot and loses the wicket . There is not as much disappointment as there is sheer sympathy that a team tried so hard, was so close to victory, and yet somehow just missed the mark! You will remember it as a great match which they sadly didn't manage to win. Well that's how I feel after watching Y eh J awani H ai D eewani . A film that is almost flawless and yet missing there is something missing and it falls short of being a great modern love story..  No. There is nothing unacceptable about a predictable end. Rarely does a love story end in a tragedy - at least in mainstream Bollywood. Be it DDLJ , J ab W e M et or the more recent Cocktail , were we really surprised the movies ended the way they did ?  It was always the process that made it a g...

I don’t understand why “Bombay Talkies” is hailed as a celebration of 100 years of Indian cinema when it strictly has short stories by Bollywood directors. How great it would have been to see regional short films with subtitles and truly celebrate the diversity that exists even within Indian Cinema? Perhaps the producers didn’t want to completely risk the film’s commercial potential – an innately “bollywood” trait. Sigh. Having said that, the films do not pay “tribute” to 100 years of Bollywood either, but present the new face of bollywood with a subtle reference to cinema (or its influence) in each story. Take this - Karan Johar’s direction come “out of the closet” – Now that's a first for bollywood and a A-list director. For me Johar’s “Ajeeb Daastan..” and Zoya Akhtar’s “Sheila ki Jawani” are equal as the third best films of the lot; lead closely by Anurag Kashyap’s “Murabba”. While each of these films achieve a standard above the Bollywood  median, it is Dibakar Ba...