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Cast: Salman Khan, Asin, Arya Babbar, Paresh Rawal, Puneet Issar, Mahesh Manjrekar

Directed by Anees Bazmee

Rating: *1/2

Whistle-blowers rejoice! Salman is back and this time he's ditched his belt to fiddle inside his pant pockets (read: Dhinka Chika, in case you don't have a television set at home). The thing with Salman's films is that they're in a genre of their own. A genre that cannot be graded for the story, screenplay, performances or any other metric used to evaluate other films. They can just be enjoyed or suffered, depending upon the elasticity of your tolerance. I hope you would consider this vague disclaimer before reading this review and before going to watch this monsoon musical.

But you're on this page hoping to get an idea about this film, so let's get down to business. The film is about a spoilt brat called Prem (the 14th time Salman has used this as a screen name) and his annoyingly happy family. Prem's daddy, Rajveer Kapoor (Mahesh Manjrekar) has the memory of a

Maniratnam and Ilayaraja

Mani Ratnam is one of the most versatile movie makers and Ilayaraja, is undoubtedly one of the best music directors the country has ever seen. And they share the same birthday.  We bring to you some of our favourite songs, and what Mani Ratnam has to say about Ilayaraja.

Nilave Va - Mouna Ragam

Mani Ratnam directed a Telugu flick and he couldn't do with out Ilayaraja - the result? This lovely number from Geetanjali

And yet another beautiful song from Anjali

Naykudu - Just listen to this amazing background score.  And then you will realise what Mani Ratnam means when he says "Ilayaraja would look at the scene once, and immediately start giving notes to his assistants, as a bunch of musicians, hovering around him, would collect the notes  for their instrument and go to their places... A director can be taken by surprise at the speed of events."

Cliched yet, i cannot just go away without mentioning this number which has made it to one of the top 10 tracks according to a BBC poll.

Salman Khan's signature dance style has evolved from clowning about to effortless buffoonery. Here's a tribute

A large part of what constitutes Salman Khan's 'sallugiri' are his dance moves. And adjectives from suave to street-smart have often been used to define the same. And today, as Salman gets jiggy in his latest foot tapping hit, Dhinka Chika from 'Ready', his signature style seems like an effortless celebration of idioticity. But Rome wasn't built in a day and Salman's dance steps have come a long way from when he first hit the dance floor. So from the poor man's disco dancer to the action-hero who grooves to an entire song by merely fiddling with his belt, here's a tiny tribute to the bad boy of Bollywood, Salman Khan.

Tan Tana Tan

Salman may be 'too cool for school' today, but this video from his past has visible streaks of a choreographed mayhem. Apart from the hip thrusts and claps, this super-hit number has steps that look laboured and tacky, even for Salman. Known for

Nargis DuttNargis Dutt. Her beauty was ethereal, her charm and talent legendary. This post is just a tribute to one of those eternal beauties Bollywood has ever seen.

Nargis was born on June 1, 1929 as Fatima Rashid. Her mother was a thumri singer and it was she who introduced Nargis to acting.  Nargis made her debut as a child actor and went on to be one of the most iconic stars in Bollywood.

Nargis in Mother IndiaShe ruled the silver screen in the 1950's and played pivotal roles in 'Barsaat', 'Andaz', 'Awaara', 'Deedar', 'Shree 420' and 'Chori Chori'. And then, came Mother India in 1957 which in a way changed the way the world saw Hindi movies. It was nominated for the Academy Awards and it won her the Filmfare Best actress award.

Her personal life was under the scanner too.  "In the movie buff's imagination, Nargis remains inextricably linked with Raj Kapoor, being the leading lady and Muse in his seminal early films, involved with him in real life, even immortalised in the "RK Studios" logo, which was based on

Kuch Luv Jaisa

Cast: Shefali Shah, Rahul Bose, Sumit Raghavan

Directed by Barnali Ray Shukla

Rating: ** 1/2

Chance meetings in Hindi films have always seemed less accidental and too fantastic to even be possible. Like the prankster Raj meeting the docile Simran while she tries desperately to catch a moving train (Eurorail, no less) in DDLJ. But then if filmy love stories were believable and logical, would they be as much fun and exciting?  May be, may be not.

Anyway, this one is about an underappreciated housewife, Madhu Saxena (Shefali Shah) whose relationship with her husband (Sumit Raghavan) has been reduced to a clinical one. Like most neglected housewives, she wants to break-free and feels that her life is drifting away aimlessly and that she couldn't be all the things she wanted to. Oddly, one can empathise with her simple sufferings, without actually being in her shoes. Perhaps, that is the power of a well-written character.

Luckily, all is not lost. Just as her husband forgets one of her

Hangover 2

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Paul Giamatti, Mike Tyson

Directed by Todd Phillips

Rating: *

There are multiple things that can ruin a movie-watching experience. A relentlessly howling baby by your side, a phone that rings loudly and is then answered by an even louder person etc. But while watching Hangover 2, one will be bothered by something entirely different: the unwarranted hoo-hah over the most unfunny scenes. So each time the bald, bearded and portly Alan (Zack Galifianakis) does as much as twitch his nose, certain quarters of the audience burst out laughing like it's going to be their last. And this puts you off more than the witless wonder called American humour that is manifested on the screen.

For those who've seen Part 1, you know what to expect (not much!). Yet, this film will surely kick back your limited expectations from the movie by a peg or two. This time around the boozy foursome, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zack

After 'Dabangg' was adjudged the Best Popular Film at this year's National Awards, many cynics started questioning the aura surrounding the coveted National Awards stating that it has started swaying the Bollywood way.

Controversy has not been a new word surrounding the National Awards. New issues keep cropping up every other year which follows in a lot of bad blood. Here are the Top 5 National Award Controversies.

Anupam Kher, Kirron KherTake for example, in 2000, when Kirron Kher won the award in the Best Actress category for Bengali film 'Bariwali', it was alleged that her voice for the Bengali film was dubbed by a Bengali actress, Rita Koiral whereas the producer of the film Anupam Kher had filled the nomination form claiming that its Kirron's original voice.

Click to read about the 5 greatest National Awards controversies.

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My earlier blogs:

• 5 movies a girl must watch
• 5 movies that will make you cry
• For the love of Bond, James Bond
• 10 worst Hollywood

opMohanlal

I remember the hush that fell over the room when Mohanlal stepped out from behind a wall and watched Sangeeta and Baby Shalini (Yeah, the same Shalini who got married to Tamil actor Ajith) walk away in 'Ente Mammattikuttiyammayku". "Arrg", said my cousin, "I hate this actor". "Who is he" I asked — my cousin, a die hard chick flick fanatic said "he is a born villain, that guy Mohanlal".

I turned my attention to the screen. And somewhere along the line, I couldn't find any thing remotely villain like in Mohanlal. He came across as just another actor -so entirely different to my favourite cartoon show heroes. So I hounded my cousin - who still is a walking dictionary of any Malayalam movies - to know more about him.

Mohanlal — according to her was 'the villain.' Even though his first film was 'Thiranottam,' it was his role as Narendran in 'Manjil Virinja Pookal' which made people sit up and take note of this young man. This Fazil film by Navodaya had Shankar and Poornima Jayaram in the