Singh is Kinng ki Kahani, Sandy ki zubaani

Another weekend and another movie.. Quite an awaited one.

Well, How are you? Hope you are smiling... If not then I can suggest something. If you already are then I can suggest something to make you laugh..... 'Singh is Kinng'.. :)

After the stupendous success of 'No Entry' and 'Welcome' Vipul Shah and Anees Bazmee give us another film to make us smile or rather, make us laugh... 'Singh is Kinng'..

So how is 'Singh is Kinng'?
It’s always believed that if you get the casting right, half the battle is won. 'Singh is King' follows the right path .. a good cast.

Let me start with the subjects rather than the king.. We have the henchmen or rather the generals as Sudanshu Pandey, Manoj Pahwa who are good in their part..Sonu Sood (Remember Sujamal Bhai-sa from Jodha Akbar? ) is good as well.. then we have the brilliant Om Puri.. who is just great. We have the the most lovable Javed Jaffery.. who is as usual fantastic. Katrina Kaif , is well suited for the part.. She does a good job too. Speaks a bit of Arabic in the film which required her to do so.. So quite impressive. Her character is of a Punjabi girl who has always lived outside India, so her accented hindi actually works for her.. We also have Kiron Kher who is in her elements and as usual brilliant. Neha Dupia actually does not have much to do, so she is OK....and last but certainly not the least the man himself..

'Singh is Kinng' had to have a person who can shoulder the film and stand tall. Not that the other characters are unimportant and do not do their part well, but it has that Amitabh's 'Namak Halal' characteristic.. Remember Arjun Singh, vald Bhim singh vald Dhasharat singh.. Even though all the characters in Namak Halal played their parts well, still it was Amitabh who shone brightest and without him, Namak Halal is not the film it would be.. Similarly this film needed a star or an actor who is good with comedy and also could genuinely deliver the message without any over-acting.. and finally we have someone like that.. In the long list of Kings, right from Balraj Sahni, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, and even Anil Kapoor; the Sultanate of Bollywood, has a new King..

Akshay Kumar.. Long live the new King........... kon ahe re tikde...may I say, SHANKH BAAJAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..................

So about the film... The story is also OK, for a comedy film.. but historically, its seen that in a comedy film, the way it is made, the cast and the performances can make the difference and put life even into an ordinary storyline.. Thats the reason David Dhawan had such an impressive track record. Even with his mediocre scripts, just with Govinda's comic timing, his sense of extracting humour from ordinary situtions and knowledge of how to tickle the janta's funny bone, he is one of the most successful comedy makers.

Ok back to Singh is kinng, do not try to spot flaws in the film. There would be many. The film is not a epic film or a suspense thriller.. So just relax, go with the flow and enjoy.. Its not a total mindless film, so its ok even if you take your brains along when you see the film.. but do not care to use it to spot flaws and be very rational. Life is not always very rational. ;)

Akshay will entertain you with his comic timing and also with glimpses of his action stunts. His stunts still remain as smooth as ever.. ekdum maska...

Om Puri provides him able company, well not in the actions scene.. I meant in providing him comic support.. Om Puri proves why he is considered one of the finest and versatile actors in India.

The film is a comedy, so do not look for any detailing.. Locations are good.. You will see Punjab, Egypt and Australia.

The story is about Akshay kumar, his mission to bring home his friend and his interesting journey.

Akshay is Happy Singh. A village bumpkin who causes havoc wherever he goes but a person with a golden heart. I will not into any details of the story.. I intend to provide only the trailer, rather than the full film.

Only two people could have brought life to this character, Govinda and Akshay... But still Akshay is by far the best choice because of his versatility.. Comedy, action and now that he can deliver the emotional lines too with so much ease. yes there are emotional moments in this film, not many but a couple.. but good ones... and let me warn you 'Singh is Kinng' can make you emotional.. So in all, the film has laughter, emotions, action and good music.. I would say most of the songs are good if not all. Pritam has done a good job again.

The film does not have slapstick comedy.. The dialogues are clever. The characters deliver their lines naturally and because of the situation and dialogue timing, you are sure to enjoy..A lot of the dialogues are in Punjabi, but do not worry you would understand them.. Sit back relax and enjoy.......

All in all a good entertainer.. Its breaking box-office records.. so if you feel like relaxing, watching a new film, Singh is Kinng would be a good one... and it would be worth your time..:)

Until next time.....

Sarkar Raj ki kahani, Sandy ki zubaani

Its been a long time since the last time I wrote. Just the reason that its been a long time that any movie has come up, which I would not like my friends to miss. The time has come.. and I sit down to make a effort to make up your mind to go and see and film, which could be well on its way to be a cult film.

ADLABS and K Sera Sera come together to give us a masterpiece... a cornerstone in the new age intelligent film making... Sarkar Raj.

For all those who had lost hope in Ram Gopal Verma for his last few disastrous films, he has come out with an absolute blinder.. A person who has given us such great film like Shiva, Satya and Company...he give us a film which could well be his finest.. Sarkar Raj has a RGV stamp all along and we are glad that the genius has finally come to form. As usual I would not tell you the story but would like to point out some points which I picked up and would hopefully make your viewing interesting.

So what is so great about Sarkar Raj...Let’s start with the casting.. It’s a golden rule that if the casting is right, half the battle is won. RGV has got it spot on. This film does include some of the biggest names in the industry.. but what’s special about these people are that, they are bigger actors than they are stars and that’s what makes them great. Sarkar Raj boasts of a great cast. Amitabh enters the role of Sarkar yet again... and this time he has his son , Abhishek alongside as the Sarkar in the making and we have a new entrant.. Aishwarya...a welcome one that too.:) Then we have the as usual impressive Govind Namdeo and Sayaji Shinde
.. Supriya Pathak and we also have Tanisha and Victor Banerjee.. and last but not the least the immensely talented Dilip Prabhawalkar (or better remembered as Chimanrao).

All the three leading actors, Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya are like 3 Aces of the movie.. As usual they are spot on and into the character.
Supriya Pathak has a very tiny role to play... But still she plays her role with such conviction that it comes out so good. Actually each and every actor has done his/her job very well.

The story takes us through a range to emotions with all kinds of situations thrown at us, like deceit, betrayal, joy, tension, relationship bonding, respect and some dark dirty politics...Sarkar Raj is all about the "evil" and dark world of the underworld and politics...No one is safe... As Sarkar say in one of his dialogues - "Jaan lena jurm hai.. sahi samay par jaan lena, Rajniti".

The dialogues of this film are very intelligent and hard hitting.. Well, but do not worry if you could not get some of the dialogues from Govind Namdeo.. Its ok.. ignore it..Do not lose sleep over it.. :)

Allan amin is the stunt director but he has limited opportunity to show his genius.. and as usual is good. The most let-down factor of this great film is what I thought was the background score. Amar Mohile has given the "Govinda Govinda" chant which is great.. but has not delivered much.. Maybe RGV should have gone for the master of background score - Sandeep Chowta, instead. When you are making the best, its easier to do it with the best... but anyway the "Govinda" chant is used quite effectively in this film. The treatment is overall quite dark.. Typical RGV and that’s truly how the world of politics and underworld is.

Editing is crisp and pace of the movie is quite fast. A RGV film no unnecessary songs. but again.. Sandeep Chowta is sorely missed..

The attention to detail is also good. Chandar the second in command to the Sarkars is a typical Marathi manoos and we can hear Hindi fused with Marathi from him.. in one of the dialogues we hear "Arre woh gawti ko kaun samjhayega".. 'Gawti' is a typical Marathi word meaning simple peasant or a novice. But with Bombaites some Marathi words are so fused with their hindi that Bombaites seldom realise that they are not speaking correct hindi.. but where life revolves around catching the 8:17am local and the 5:13 pm local back, who has time to check if they are speaking the correct hindi.. tereko samjha na..theek hai.. nahi samjha kya... chal watle phir. ;)

Ok back to the review.. Aishwarya plays the daugther of a NRI businessman (Victor Banerjee). So her look is quite British.. Hairstyle, Formal clothes... quite what we can see in case of a British born desis.. One thing which could have made it more effective would have been her accent. She does speak a few lines of English in the movie, so if she could have spoken with a British accent that would have been great. But actually British accent is a bit difficult to pick up than the normal American accent. So as this movie is for the masses, American accent is easier to pick up .. so this point can be ignored.

Aishwarya in one of the scenes, eats bhajiya on the road side, if you pay close attention to the expressions you may pick up the detailing.. She picks up the bhajiya offered by Abhishek as something "suspiciously maybe unhygenical" food... holds carefully with two fingers says thank you and eats it.. this is the typical mindset and attitude of a British born desi when they would eat in one of our road side dhabas.. Wonderful detail incorporated. and wonderfully done as well.

Amitabh goes to Thakarwadi and remembers old times.. Chandar who belongs to Thakarwadi proudly shows Shankar (Abhishek) his land and fields.. A typical sense of joy and pride when one visits home with a friend or close and known person. A child (shepherd) climbs up to the hillock to see the vehicles escorting Sarkar to the village and filled with excitement and waves to them.. something which brings a smile...:)

In one of the scene we see what would fill one with awe. The Mega Star Amitabh Bachchan, the Man of the Millenium according some magazines and the Shehanshah of Indian Film Industry bows down and touches Dilip Prabhawalkar's feet... and he does it with such humbleness and in the character that you know what makes such a talented person truly great.. He could have easily said no to such a scene. In a world where actors constantly say no to scene which would harm their image or even go ahead and cut other peoples roles so that the other person does not look better than him/her, here is a man who stuck to the role and showed us why he is truly the Shehanshah of Indian film industry,. The scene is important scene and Amitabh touching Dilip's feet is not highlighted and everything goes on as normal. but that’s what make the scene such a powerful one.

So I would say this film has quite many incidents where detailed attention is given..and such detailing makes the movie even better.

Overall a very good film. So if you liked Sarkar 3 years ago, you will love Sarkar Raj. A few films beat its prequel and Sarkar Raj is one of them.

So go ahead and enjoy...

Have a nice day.

'Taare Zameen Par' ki kahani, Sandy ki zubaani

I am back.. :) After a long time ....
As always, this review is meant to speak about the film which I think is a good view.. and hope to give an extra push to my friends who want to see a good film. This film has been released long time and most people would have seen it... This review is for those people who are still skeptical of the film and wonder if 'Taare Zameen Par' is a good film or not.... Well, indeed 'Taare Zameen Par' is not a good film. I would not call it a good film. No ..Not at all.. Its just one of those amazingly, outstandingly delicately made heart-touching masterpiece. So you see, sometimes 'Good' is just not good enough.

Aamir Khan has proved why he is considered a perfectionist.. aur perfection ko improve karna muskhil hota hai..Taare Zameen Par is easily the finest film of 2007..

So what makes this film great. Lets start with the casting... This film, just like 'Life in a Metro', the script is the king. Aamir has chosen actors who can act. Even if they are not so well-known.. these people played their part.. and played their part brilliantly.. Be it the bus-conductor who picks up our central character 'Ishaan' from school or the children who are the school-mates of our central character.

Our central character, Ishaan is played by Darsheel Safary... and he is amazing. Aamir Khan has gone so far as quoting, that Darsheel is one of the finest actors he has worked with.. One might think Aamir would say this for the publicity of his film and so that people come and see the film. But when you would see the film, you would realize how right Aamir is.

Vipin Sharma and Tisca Chopra play Ishaan's parents. Tisca chopra as usual does a great job. This good-looking lady is as natural as always. Might even remind you of the great Nutan...and then we have the master himself..Aamir is at his natural best.. The casting is great. Its said that once you get the casting right, you are set to make a good film.

The story's main character is a boy who is a bit different from other kids. When I say, different.. he is not mentally or physically challenged in anyway.. He is different in the way he thinks.. he is different in the pace he lives his life.. He is not the normal 'you are to be amongst the best - free seat getter in engineering/medical - I am cool' type of Bombay kid. This story is how his different way of seeing and living life is seen to be irritating to the 'normal', 'disciplined', robotic, the runners of the rat-race, of our society.. How scared his parents are, seeing their 'different' child and worrying how would he cope with the other kids and the competitive world. Ishaan has problem coping with his studies and when the parents see matter going from bad to worse and Ishaan fails to come on track with the normal world, they send him to boarding school.... Here ishaan has the same difficulties... but from somewhere help arrives and our kid blossoms.. The rich colors of life which were hidden inside, shows itself... The hidden lava of talent which was dormant was so long erupts out of that suppressed volcano..Thus showing and delivering the message that 'Every child is special'.

Each one may not necessarily do the all the things everyone else can do.. but he/she can certainly do one thing which is special. Some learn fast.. some slow.. It require our patience, time and energy to bring out the speciality in our kids.. Each and every child has something which distinguishes from others... Sachin Tendulkar never went to college.. but at the age of 9 he could bat as no one his age could..

The amount of detailing done in this film is great.. The mannerism of the child, the pattern of thought.. how he reacts to situations..
for eg..
- when Ishaan returns from school... the building gates; one is open the other closed. Ishaan playfully rides on the closed door and swings it open... a small thing but thats the way a 9 year old would chose to do. He would play with anything he sees and make anything into his toy.
- Entering the building, he sees the dogs and immediately calls them and plays with them for some time before going up to his house.. Now is he tired and returning from school.. But the mindset of the child is always.. "Oh Today's school is over' so he is going to have fun as much as possible before going to school again tomorrow..
- When he is asked about the report card by his mom, he ignore her. :) because he has not go good marks in his exams.. typical kid attitude. :).
- Ishaan goes down to play, here you would hear the boys speak when they are playing.. now as this film is based in Mumbai you would not hear the shudh-hindi.. you would hear boys say.. "Aye jana ball leke aa.. samazta nahi kya?" instead of "tujhe samjh main nahi ata hai kya?" .. A typical Bombay kid speak a different dialect of hindi as you would find in the northern part and the same has been considered here...and it was certainly a refresh of old memories.. :) I hope it would be for you too.
- The language has mixture of English and Hindi as we would use in everyday usage..but in one instance, when Aamir talks with the Principal of his school. He says "Gyan to gyan hai.. chahe likhit ho ya padhith".. Now thats not everyday usage..but this is a well-known phrase and easily caught on by a person who already has heard and recited the phrase a no. of times.i.e a fellow teacher. So when Aamir says the sentence to the principal he is more likely to catch to that sentence and understand.. Now that is detailing.. Using "knowledge is knowledge" to substitute that sentence would not have been that effective..
- Ishaan fights with a kids and come back home with bruises. The fellow he had a fight with has complained to Ishaan's parents.. Ishaan's father is angry and starts to scold Ishaan and leaves in disgust.. Ishaan's mom however is busy searching for the number of bruises Ishaan has on his body… A typical Indian family.. The father who has always an eye on the pride, behaviour and conduct of his family and the mother who only concerned with the well-being of her family. The reaction of the two parents are in complete contrast and well depicted.
Well, :) I am not saying that father's are not concerned about the well-being of the family as such.. but the scene shows a typical reaction of the two parents.
- When in the last scene, Ishaan is leaving for home.. Aamir, a teacher, who always speaks the correct Hindi with his students, say to him "jaldi aneka ha? holidays ke baad".. Now thats Bombaiya hindi... "aneka ha".. By speaking thus, he is trying to communicate with Ishaan as any Bombaite would. We know that kids love when communicated with them as their friends or equals...Thats great detailing...easily to just slip by..but just shows how well Aamir understands the mood, tone and the characters in his film.

In some of the instances, Aamir shows the life of the people on the lower end of the society, in Bombay.. How ishaan on his day out sees all this and observes..

The film also takes a look at the children who has mentally challenged but still do stuff which bring smile, laughter and joy to the hearts and faces of their parents and guardians. These challenged kids are helped by kind souls who dedicate their time, energy, effort and patience to make them capable enough to enter the mainstream. Here you realise how important these challeged kids are to their parents.. Just in one scene of the film Aamir is able to show you the feelings between these kids and their parents.... The effort of the kids to show their parents how worthy they are... and the proud tears and smiles on the faces of their parents which says aloud - "I am so proud of you, my beautiful child"............ Just amazing stuff....All of this done in a very touching way..

The story narration, direction is excellent.. The songs are great... Not that the songs will be played in the discos or even in the ganapati visargans.. but the lyrics of the songs are so very meaningful and touching.. you will have to feel the songs, instead of just listening.. Prashoon joshi has done a great job with the words and Shankar Eshaan Loy has provided able support for the tunes..particularly the song "Tujhe sab hai pata... meri maa" is heart-piercing...

A movie which has kids as the important characters, is always difficult to make.. He heard that from Mani ratnam who made Anjali, we heard it from Shekhar Kapur who made Mr. India... and Taare Zameen Par should be no different... Aamir Khan has done a very difficult job of acting, producing and directing a movie ... which has kids .. at the same time extracting great performance from all involved and .............at the same time doing NOTHING to glorify himself in his movie. Now this is what makes the Amitabhs, the Aamirs and the Hritiks, a class apart....Because they place their work above their personal glorification..

Indeed a heart-touching masterpiece from a person who understands people, who understands cinema, who makes film because it is his passion rather that for glorifying himself.if you have not seen it already, I would certainly recommend it.. Its not the tear-jerker film which you would want to miss..

It is a tear-jerking film which will touch you and make you think differently...

Until next time...