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I know its too late, but better late than never. I did watch the movie FDLS (first day last show) but didn't find time to write the review. Its not coz I am that busy, but still I can't see any reason for not finding time. As it is said in marathi, didn't find time due to idleness. But, back to the topic, being a Madhur Bhandarkar film, it was a must watch movie. Also, the topic was quite interesting, since Fashion means sexy models everywhere. What other reason do I need? (Well, unfortunately, the movie had equal no. of gays, but thats another part of the story)
I was aware that the movie was about the rise, fall and re-rise of a super-model and so the story starts off in Meerut, a second tier city in India, with a city model, Meghna Mathur (Priyanka), dreaming to make it big in the fashion world. So she reaches the Fashion capital of India, Mumbai and starts her struggle towards her dreams. She meets Rohit (Ashwin Mushran), a gay aspiring designer, who introduces her to some contacts in the industry. She gets small assignments like a lingerie ad and ramp walks through these contacts. But because of the supermodel spark and attitude in her she develops key contacts in the fashion industry. Idolising Shonali (Kangna Ranawat), the show-stopper, she starts climbing the steps to success. And at one point she displaces Kangna and takes over the position of the face for Panache, a top brand in the city, owned by Abhijeet Sareen (Arbaaz Khan). And then she has no turning back, or so she thinks. Her late night parties and outings become a concern for her roomie turned boyfriend Maanav (Arjan). He tries to question her but spoils the relation and Priyanka quits him. From here the fall starts.
I felt the initial rise has eaten up a large part of the movie because of which, it has become longer. In the end, the re-rise is slower than the initial movie which makes the audience feel, come-on, finish it now. Priyanka has done well in her role showing different stages of stardom. Her awkwardness in the lingerie ad and distress after realizing that she slept with an african under the influence of drugs, is very good (though I feel Aish would have also brought shine to the role). I could here various "Oh shit" from female audience in the theatre at this scene. Madhur Bhandarkar has used all aspects of the industry like gay designers, drug intake of models, accidental strip-off on the ramp etc. without showing any unnecessary female exposure.
Kangna has also acted well to depict the Delhi based model, Geeta, who was on streets some days back, but is making a come-back. Model Mugdha Godse has also performed well in her debut movie. Other supporting cast like Arbaaz, Kitu Gidwani, Sameer Soni have also done good justice to their resp. roles.
The music feels fresh and techno with the remix numbers being used for the ramp shows. My personal favorite is the theme of the movie. All in all, another good movie from the Madhur Bhandarkar banner and a must watch in theatres.
Rating - ****1/2
Well, the Sarkar I am talking about here is actually the Junta who has watched this movie, and yes it is नाराज for sure. Ram Gopal Verma has once again proved that he has lost it after a disgusting remake of the all-time masterpiece, the evergreen "Sholay". And with him even Big B is getting dragged into losing his own. The chain reaction has started with the younger B and now the newer B getting involved in it too. The Queen B has smartly kept herself away with all this, as always.
The movie continues where its prequel ended showing Sarkar handing over the strings to छोटे sarkar on the former's b'day blast. Abhi is successful in handling of the party and so he is declared the heir to sarkar Big B. His enemies then rope in a power plant co. from UK for a project to be built in Maharashtra, in the childhood village of Big B. Sarkar curses his CM for even thinking of such a project which would dislocate 40k villagers, but Abhi convinces the father about how the project would be a success in the long run, even if it seems a problem at present. So the permissions are given, and the co. rep. Aish comes to visit the site. Both Abhi and Aish convince the villagers about the project and no sooner do they start dreaming about it, a local favorite (Raj Thackeray lookalike) plays spoil sport and turns the villagers against the project. Things go from bad to worst and a major tragedy is brought about in the house of the Nagle's by their enemies at intermission. The first half of the movie is fast and fascinating, but....
After the intermission, the movie starts to derail and goes haywire. There is no definite direction and just shows one murder after the other, like an ordinary bollywood action movie. At one point, it is so ridiculous that I almost burst into a giggle, when Aish puts her hand on Abhi's and withdraws but Abhi reciprocates. I mean, come on guys, u don't expect a Karan Johar stunt in a Ram Gopal Verma movie, do you? The movie gets more and more boring eventually. One man in the theatre yawned a bit loudly, and the entire theatre burst out laughing. It was pathetic.
I don't even feel like commenting anything else about the movie. Its a total flop and I am sure I am not watching any more Verma henceforth. Actually, Abhi and Aish both look good, but it all is lost with the director's. I suggest a strict no-no.
Rating - *
History is a suject which I didn't like during school days. But with each year added to my age, I think I am getting more and more interested in history. India has a vast and rich culture, being one of the oldest civilizations in the world. And hence, Indian history is marked with constant events of attacks, since the land always flourished with all sorts of wealth the earth has given to mankind. And this is what Big B tells us in the introduction to "Jodha Akbar", Ashutosh Gowariker's latest release.
The movie is about relationship of Princess Jodhabai of Amer and the mogul emperor Akbar. Emperor Akbar was put to rule at a very early age in his life. The mogul way of rule was very cruel and ambitious, but Akbar (whose actual name was Jalaluddin Mohammed or Jalal) was not very comfortable with it. He was a king with emotion and consideration for mankind, unlike his predecessors. However, he becomes more successful and powerful with this strategy and acquires new kingdoms. In this forward stride, he comes across kingdom of Amer, which proposes to accept his rule on the condition that he marries princess Jodha. Both Jodha and Akbar get married as a compromise and have terms of agreement. However, marriage is not just about living together, and what happens later is very nicely and softly put down in the movie.
The movie is long but you don't really feel the length, since it is intermittently lined with strategies and plots such that you never lose interest. And if there's nothing, there are the grand sets designed beautifully by Nitin Desai, the same person behind the grand sets of Hum dil de chuke... and Devdas. And the credit for the sets goes to Ashutosh, who has made them look just apt for the scenes and no more gaudy or showy, unlike S. L. Bhansali. The sets involve you right at the start where you get a slight recall of LOTR. And thats not the only place where the shot
is brilliant, Hrithik's shot of taming the wild elephant is also majestic. And Hrithik has performed well too. He has fully delivered to the needs of his character and shown all facets of the emperor perfectly, be it calmness or vengeance, love or hatred. Aish also looks very good in tradiitonal wear and I liked her for the first time in ethnic outfit. Rahman's music is good as always.
All in all, the beginning of '08 has been grand for bollywood, and I sincerely feel that the movie should be nominated in the best film category for the Oscars. It has got everything it needs to reach that stage. Ashutosh has done well and maitained his level of direction and I wish him all the best for his future projects (e.g. I heard he's making a movie on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj next...;)).
Rating - * * * * *
This is the second FDLS, the first being BB (sorry for the shortforms, but they make life easier :D). I watched the trailer of Taare Zameen Par (TZP) during BB for the first time, and was quite excited to watch the movie. So me and M went on friday to see Aamir's maiden creation. The first day is the best one to watch a movie since u have no personal reviews from anyone, so u r the first ones to make an opinion about the movie. We discovered this during BB, since Chak De turned out to be an average flick for me and M after all the hype about it.
It starts off with a beautiful animation for the titles, similar to the cartoon animation titles in older comedy movies. The technologically advanced version is amazing to watch. It sets off a theme of being a movie which children would love for the next 3 hours. The hero, Darsheel, is introduced in the first scene itself, and the movie begins with his daily routine and his total ignorance towards studies. The kid has done an extra-ordinary work in creating the sympathetic environment for himself in a very short time. I had a chance to see the reactions a kid who was sitting besides me and Darsheel was already his hero, in the first 20 mins of the movie, though he's shown to be a loser. The setup is in an ordinary Indian family in Mumbai with 2 sons and parents. The elder son is an ace in whatever he does and the younger is the exact opposite. The parents think that the child is not interested in studying and is a useless fellow. They beat him and scold him for his misbehavior (and here Darsheel has successfully received the ohhhhhs and aahhhhhs of the female audience), threatening him to put him in boarding school if he continued with his rebellious nature. And finally the same thing happens.
But since the kid has been highly misjudged, he continues to be the same at boarding school too. All the more, now he prefers solitude and has no mood to do even his favorite, painting. He feels left out of the family and doesn't correspond with the parents or brother as before. Here, I would like to say that Darsheel has hardly any line s to speak, but he has acted so well that u can feel the pain he is in. And then suddenly one day, comes a magician, a new drawing teacher (Aamir) who sees the kid about to be devastated. And he strives and succeeds in bringing the kid back on track. No spoilers here, u will have to watch the movie to see how he does it.
All in all, an excellent work by Aamir as a debutant director, who is very well aware of the expectations of the Indian audience, especially from him, and has fully delivered. The movie, is no doubt, a serious one which makes every parent cry, but its surely an eye-opener for very many parents, who fail to understand child psychology. Performances from all the actors are very good, including Tisca, and the best actor of the year is definitely Darsheel. Aamir also looks good, though with wrinkles on his face. But not at all as bad as SRK. Watch it people.
Rating - * * * * */2
I know its too late, but better late than never. I did watch the movie FDLS (first day last show) but didn't find time to write the review. Its not coz I am that busy, but still I can't see any reason for not finding time. As it is said in marathi, didn't find time due to idleness. But, back to the topic, being a Madhur Bhandarkar film, it was a must watch movie. Also, the topic was quite interesting, since Fashion means sexy models everywhere. What other reason do I need? (Well, unfortunately, the movie had equal no. of gays, but thats another part of the story)
