Tashan (released in 2008) - A much awaited movie, but acclaimed as a major disaster

Tashan was one of the most awaited movies of 2008. The movie was the first movie together of the new star couple (Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan) and hence very awaited. In addition, Akshay Kumar was also part of the star attraction, combined with Anil Kapoor in a negative role, some much awaited (and different) music by Vishal-shekhar, and the much-talked about major attraction of the movie, Kareena Kapoor in a size zero and in a green bikini.
And this was also one of the biggest stinkers of the year, getting a just about average rating from critics, and getting pretty bad word of mouth. This was compounded by the fact that there was a huge dispute about revenue sharing between the multiplex owners and the film producers and it took some time to get this dispute resolved. This dispute also resulted in some reduction in the bookings for the movie; but the bigger problem was that most people did not really like the movie. The saving grace for the movie is that the CD / DVD of the movie is a good seller, which means that people like this movie when they can see it at home, but did not really want to see this movie at the hall.

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The movie saw a lot of interviews before the release, with a lot of coverage of Kareena Kapoor for the size zero she achieved, and the exercise regime she followed for getting there. And there were the sound-bites by Vishal-Shekhar about the music they had released, and how it would become a landmark event, just because of the different kind of music. Anyhow, all this hype fell flat, and let us get some idea of the story.
The movie is a bit of a madcap, chase, deceit, love, and a lot of courage. In addition, the romance is shown in the end between Kareena and Akshay rather than between Kareena and Saif. So, you have Jimmy (Saif Ali Khan) as a person teaching English at a call center. Into his life comes Pooja (Kareena), wanting him to teach English; he assumes that he will be teaching her and agrees. However, it is actually her boss Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor) who wants to learn English. Pretty quickly, Pooja is able to get Jimmy on her side, convincing him that she owns money to Bhaiyyaji and wants to go to her father's funeral at Haridwar. So, Jimmy agrees to help her steal money from Bhaiyyaji, and they run away. He does not know too much about Bhaiyyaji, and when he learns that Bhaiyyaji is a mafia don and known for his cruelty, he wants to warn Pooja but she has already run away with all the money.
Bhaiyyaji sends Bachchan Pande (Akshay Kumar) to go after Jimmy; and when Bachchan catches Jimmy, they head off towards Haridwar to get Pooja. However, she sees them and runs away, and in a fight between Jimmy and Bachchan, the car has an accident, and falls into the water, the same water from which Pooja emerges in a scene meant for the front-benchers. Some episodes later, Pooja realizes that Bachchan is actually her childhood love, and that long lost love is reactivated. However, Jimmy has changed the money with stones, the same stones that Bachchan is now taking towards Bhaiyyaji. And then follows a fight at Bhaiyyaji's place, where they are surrounded by a lot of henchmen, but then they defeat everybody and Bhaiyyaji gets killed.

Fashion (2008) - The dark side of the fashion industry - directed by Madhur Bhandarkar

Madhur Bhandarkar is famous for making films on hard gritty subjects and not shying away from portraying the reality (including the ugly side) of things. Some of these movies include Chandni Bar, Page 3, Traffic Signal, etc. Madhur also won a national award for the direction of Traffic Signal. In addition, while his movies may not be super-hits, they make money, and for movies that are about the ills of society, making money is a big plus. Also, because his movies are seen as good cinema, actors and actresses can develop a great reputation by acting in his movies. Fashion is one such movie, that gave a filip to the careers of actors such as Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut and newcomer Mugdha Godse. Priyanka Chopra in fact has got a very good reputation after this movie, something which also got enhanced after her role in another movie, 7 Khoon Maaf. In fact, Priyanka also got a National Award for Best Actress for her role in this movie.
The movie also bears an uncanny resemblance to the story of Geetanjali Nagpal, the former model who was found in a pretty bad condition on the streets of Delhi in the year 2007; however, Madhur has denied that Fashion was based on the story of Geetanjali. The story of the movie was by Ajay Monga, with narration by Priyanka Chopra. Music for the movie, with some acclaimed songs such as 'Fashion ka Jalwa' and 'Mar Jawan' was by Salim-Sulaiman, with lyrics by Sandeep Nath and Irfan Siddique. The movie was fairly successful, and won a host of awards at such events such as Filmfare Awards, Star Screen Awards, IIFA, and Stardust Awards.

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The movie is the story of the ups and downs in the fashion industry, especially when success goes to somebody's head. The story is that of a girl, Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) who wants to be big in the fashion industry in Mumbai and leaves her house against the wishes of her parents since she wants to follow this career. However, life is not so easy, and success does not come easily. And of course there are other models who are on top, such as the current reigning super-model Shonali Gujral (Kangana Ranaut). However, after some efforts, and being tutored by her friend and another struggling model Janet (Mugdha Godse) as well as a struggling make model Maanav (Arjan Bajwa), she finally gets lucky and is noticed by one of the executives (Anisha Roy (played by Kitu Gidwani)) of a big modeling agency Panache. Anisha in turn introduces her to her boss Abhijit Sarin (Arbaaz Khan). Abhijit is impressed by her, and since Shonali is struggling with her drug problem, he decides to replace Shonali with Megha, part of the downfall process for Shonali.
Megha is now successful, which means that she gives up her relationship with Maanav, and starts having a relationship with Abhijit, even though he is a married man. Their relationship proceeds, till she gets pregnant and is pressured to abort her child; something which causes her to break the news to Abhijit's wife, causing her to get fired from her peak position and further fall in the clutches of drugs and alcohol (a path that Shonali is already following, increased after she had a wardrobe mal-function). When Megha has a one-night stand after a party where she has got drunk, she realizes how much she has fallen, and decides to leave the industry and return to her parents in Chandigarh.
However, this is not the end. Her parents encourage her to get back to her life, also as a way of getting back her self-confidence, and she decides to make up with Janet and gets back to Mumbai, however, no longer the top model. Things shake her when she sees Shonali on TV as a homeless drunk, and she brings Shonali back in order to make her better again, a process which also acts as a healing ritual for her. Even though she is not able to save Shonali, Megha gets back her confidence to again become a top model.

Kismat Konnection (2008) - Starring Shahid Kapoor, Vidya Balan and Juhi Chawla

Shahid Kapoor had the super-hit film with a pairing with Kareena Kapoor, and the movie ? Jab We Met. Unfortunately, his luck ran out then, and in fact Jab We Met was released when the pair was already done, with Kareena waltzing off with Saif Ali Khan, and Shahid looking for somebody on the rebound. During and after the course of this movie, there were a lot of stories about a relationship with Vidya Balan, but soon after this movie released, the talk went away. In fact, the movie had a strong opening and a great first weekend, but then went weak and was classified as a weak movie at the box office. The songs were okay, the chemistry was okay (although there were a number of comments about his boyish look while she looked like his aunty), and then of course, there was withering criticism of Vidya Balan's wardrobe, something that must have riled her a lot (she talked about this criticism for some time after the release of the movie).
The movie also had a role by Juhi Chawla, trying to play a non-glamorous role, and if the movie had been successful, maybe that role might have been more appreciated. However, it was not to be. The movie was released under the banner of Tips Industries, being produced by Ramesh Taurani, and was directed by the well admired director Aziz Mirza (who of course has a very strong Shahrukh Khan connection). The music was by Pritam, with lyrics by Sayeed Quadri & Shabbir Ahmed). The movie had story by Rahila Mirza.

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The story of how a particular person could be the key to another person's luck sounds like the story that a fortune teller might try to tell you, and so it was in this case. It is particular painful for a person who was at the top in college, and was predicted to do very well. Raj Malhotra (Shahid Kapoor) is an architect, and is still struggling for good work. In addition, he runs into trouble in the form of Priya (Vidya Balan) and they have a tiff (verbal tiff).
Soon after, Raj goes to a gypsy lady Haseena Bano Jaan (played by Juhi Chawla) for help and advice, and she tells him that there is a person whose very presence will bring him luck, and guess what, it will be Priya. If she were there when he was trying to do his business, it will lead to more clients, more business, and success.
Priya is more interested in doing social work, including standing up for the rights of citizens when businesses are trying to push them aside. She wants to prevent the building of a huge commercial project that will push aside a small community center, while for him, the big move is to propose himself as the architect of this huge commercial project. So he lies to her in terms of trying to help her project while putting forward his proposals for the project. And, her presence does seem to help his fortune. He also falls in love with her, but then, things get upturned when she finds out what he is actually trying to do.
However, by this time, he is for the project that she is trying to do, for her cause, and changes his plans to accommodate the community center, but is knocked out of the bidding process, even though she is attracted finally by what he is trying to do. And then help comes from a very unlikely source, such a help that you would start to believe in a concept of God. A movie that can be watched.

Ra.One (released in 2011) - Starring Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor - Wait for it to come on TV

For a couple of years now, Ra.One has been the most awaited movie in Bollywood. With the additional marketing blitz over the past few weeks, it would seem that you wherever you went, you would see something related to Ra.One; and with the product marketing tie-ups, there were many products that were related to Ra.One. The hype for the movie was incredible, and there is a sense of fear that comes when a movie is such incredibly hyped (which has been proved true for many movies in the past, the last one being Veer). I read a few reviews, asked some friends, and finally decided to take the plunge and buy a ticket (in a small group).
It's somewhat hard for me to describe how I felt, although one of my biggest indicators (looking at my watch often), indicated that the movie was not gripping enough. And, in the last couple of days, I watched some movies that were also some sort of super-hero movies, such as Robot, and Iron Man (1 and 2), it seemed to be clear that Ra.One was missing something. Which is very surprising if you look at the people and effort involved. With the backing of Shahrukh Khan, the movie was directed by Anubhav Sinha, music by Vishal-Shekhar, and with the huge budget of Rs. 175 crore letting the movie hire the best of talent from Holly wood. And yet, here are some of the negatives that really turned me off:
- The level of humour in the movie was incredibly low. What little humour there was dealt with poking fun of a Tamil accent, or of translating abuses into ones that ladies that can use, etc. I was cringing in the hall when I heard the language, and the common usage of words such as condom, main male organ, and so on.
- The film has very little action. For a movie that is styled on a super-hero, the action scenes would not be more than 15-20 minutes (or seems like that long)
- The movie has a feel of being in a video game; especially towards the end where the battle between the main characters does not really impress. Compare with the scene in Robot, and they seem better, and of course, there is no comparison between scenes in movies such as Iron Man.
- The movie displays the main Indian theme especially in the second half, where a song suddenly comes in and disrupts the entire sequence.
- The villain, supposedly endowed with superb powers, never really exhibits such powers other than the ability to deliver a strong blow (such as the one by the fireman in X-men, where energy is controlled and then thrown); further, this is a villain with only one objective, to kill the boy who last defeated him. There is no danger to the human race.
- Music is just about okay.
- Arjun Ramphal again has very little time in the film, with the cartoon character, and other guises taking up most of the appearance of the villain
- Who creates a video game with only 3 levels, and that too with only 1 gun and bullet in the 3rd stage (nobody would get hooked to such a game)

There were a few things I liked:
- Kareena did not have an action role, but otherwise she looked hot in her role
- The new kid (Armaan Khan) playing the role of the son of Shahrukh Khan was good
- Some of the interaction with the neighbor (Satish Shah) was decent
- The final train scene was good, and seemed well suited to the context of the locals in Mumbai

The story of the movie is basically the attempts of the super-hero to save the son of his creator, from another monster. So, Shahrukh works in a senior position in Barron industries, and creates video games. He is shown to be a bumbling guy, good with values and morals, and a good creator of video games. His son does not really idolise, and in fact, many times is embarrassed by the actions of his father. He is however in love with video games, and with villains. So, his father creates a new video game with the most dangerous villain, called Ra.One (the creation process of the video game shown in the movie is fairly nice), but his team soon starts to see weird things. The Artificial Intelligence given to the villain is giving the villain (inside the video game) some strange powers, and this comes out in the open when the young child Prateik (code name Lucifer) defeats Ra.One in the first level, but then abandons the game. At this, Ra.One decides to leave the game to defeat Lucifer in real life, and kills his father while doing this.
The only savior is G.One (played by Shahrukh Khan), the counterpart of Ra.One. Both of them have a brief battle where Ra.One is destroyed into several small parts, and they all flee back to India. After some sentimental scenes (sure to be a turn off for kids), Ra.One is re-created, comes to Mumbai and interrupts during the Chamak Challo sequence. A final fight sequence takes place, the movie ends. Yawn.

Bodyguard (released in 2011) - Starring Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor - A watchable movie

After the success of his previous movies such as Wanted, Ready, and Dabangg, Salman Khan is again a superstar of Indian cinema, capable of attracting huge crowds for his movies. So, when a movie of the name of Bodyguard comes, you would expect such a movie to have all the formula in place, such as lots of action, some good music, and some amount of romance and humour thrown in. To add to this, some of his recent movies have either been made by directors from South India, or is a remake of a South Indian film. The same situation is there in Bodyguard, where the movie is the third remake of a Malayam movie made by the same director, Siddique.
So, what is the judgment for the movie ? Well, the music is nothing to talk about, although the influence of South Indian cinema seems to be clearly apparent; even a Punjabi bases song sung by Mika did not really cause any excitement in the hall (as opposed to the whistling in the hall when Salman Khan made his entry). Even critics of the movie do not call the movie as anything to write about, although there is a lot of praise for the action done by Salman Khan (who is the total focus of attention in the movie).

Music CD of movie Bodyguard:

What about the movie ? Well, if you read on, then you will get to know the story of the movie after the first para, so be sure that you don't want to spoil your curiosity for the movie. In the hall, I found that 30 minutes into the movie, everybody became quiet, not because of any great suspense - it seemed that people felt that the movie started dragging on, and I started yawning (one of my best indicators that the movie started getting boring).
The movie has 3 very well directed action scenes (if you want some of the action scenes in Wanted, where the action suddenly seems to either become in slow motion or fast movement, then you know what to expect; in one scene, you can suddenly see even water droplets flying in the air). However, there are huge gaps in the movie where there are no action scenes, and since there are no easy apparently romantic scenes between Salman and Kareena, and the humour is not rib-ticking, it gets boring.
So, you have a big local man called Sartaj Singh (implied that he is a powerful man, but not whether he is the local bahubali or a respected man); he is also the local person to whom people in distress go to. So, a lady goes to Sartaj Singh and wants his help in saving her daughter and other local girls who are being sent to Thailand to be sold in the flesh trade. And when Sartaj Singh goes to a firm for help, they in turn direct the work to agent Lovely Singh (Salman Singh). Lovely is also very faithful to Sartaj since Sartaj had saved Salman's wife when Salman's parents suffered a tragic accident.
Next, Sartaj Singh wants Lovely to be the bodyguard for his daughter Divya (Kareena) who has to go to college, but is in danger because of the rivals of Sartaj. So, Salman goes off to college along with Divya (along with another friend, and 2 more people to help in their setting up of the house near the college). Divya cannot stand the constant presence of a bodyguard and seeks to change stuff such as the constant uniform that Lovely wears, and his being present everywhere. Towards this end, she seeks to entice him by calling him from her cell (the number of which does not get reported), and over a period of time, Lovely, even without meeting the girl, starts falling in love with her (something surprising).
Then the villains attack, which Lovely fends off, after which Divya falls in love with him. This can become unpleasant, since Salman treats her like his employer, and the daughter of a person whom he really respects; and this becomes crazy in the end when Divya is not able to let Lovely go, when the villains attack, and Divya's father is told that Lovely and Divya are planning to run away. However, in the end, Lovely saves Divya from villains, Divya saves Lovely from her father, and Salman goes away. And then, in the last 10 minutes, 8 years in the future, there is a twist.

Kaminey (released in 2009) - Starring Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Amol Gupte

Kaminey was an interesting movie, released in the year 2009. Even the name was somewhat different from the existing names that are used for movies, and the script was even more interesting (and was actually bought from a Kenyan writer for 4000 dollars by Vishal Bhardwaj). When I walked into the movie hall, the movie seemed a bit slow in the beginning, but quickly gathered pace and became a must watch. The movie was directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, starred Shahid Kapoor in a double role, and also starred Priyanka Chopra in a role that she must have appreciated. The music for the movie was also given by Vishal Bhardwaj, and was well appreciated, especially for the hit song, called Dhan Te Nan, sung by Sukhwinder Singh, Vishal Dadlani. Lyrics for the movie were by Gulzar. The movie was nominated for a number of awards at the Filmfare awards, Apsara awards, and many others.

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New York (Hit movie released in 2009) - Starring John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Irrfan Khan

The 2001 attacks in New York on the World Trade Center was a major event in the history of the United States, a huge terror attack in the heart of the US, and together with the attack on the Pentagon, a shock to the whole world. It led to a severe fightback by the United States on terrorism, which included assistance in the removal of the Taliban from Afghanistan and its support to Al-Qaeda, the moving of a number of suspects to the US base of Guantanamo. Even now, 10 years later, the US is continuing to fight against terror suspects, monitoring to break up terror cell. The attacks also led to a number of laws that enabled the US Government to detain suspects, snoop on them, and so on. It is natural that in this fight, there would also be mistakes made, especially when it came to suspicious behavior on the form of Muslims, and in the surcharged atmosphere, this would have lead to innocents being caught and jailed for periods of time. Some of the laws that prevented such miscarriages of justice would also have been in abeyance with the application of the need for national security.
What would happen when a person was caught up in this search, was innocent, but was jailed and tortured ? Would this create a huge feeling of revenge in such a person, the need to strike out and fight back against this injustice committed ? New York is a gripping movie that explores this concept, which takes an innocent Muslim studying in New York at the time of the attack, and who was arrested and tortured, and then looks after some years to see what the impact of all these incidents were.

New York is a movie that was pretty successful, being declared a hit. The movie was a hit with critics as well, being seen as a taut movie that portrayed the emotions of a person caught up in something that he was not involved in, and how that incident changed him such that it drove him to a disastrous future.
New York also got approval to shoot in many situations at site, inspite of the portrayal of the movie about a person falsely implicated by the FBI, and who got traumatized by this experience, ultimately becoming a terrorist who came close to taking revenge, stopped by his own family and friends in the end.
Omar, Maya and Sam are friends in New York University in 1999, enjoying life and having a good time. Omar (Neil Nitin Mukesh) starts falls in love with Maya (Katrina Kaif), but withdraws from both of them when he realizes that Maya is actually in love with Sam. And then the events of 2001 happen, where Sam is detained by the FBI and kept in jail for 9 months, and tortured as well.
All this is revealed in flashback, since the year is 2008, and Omar has been arrested by the FBI for having guns in the trunk of his taxi, and he realizes that he is forced to work with the FBI to keep a check on Sam (who is now married to Maya, and has a son). Sam is now suspected of being a terrorist, planning a strike. Omar does not initially believe this, but the situation turns out that he starts believing this. And then a quest starts to stop Sam before he can carry out the plan.