The many avatars of Karisma Kapoor

Cast: Karisma Kapoor, Rajneesh Duggal, Jimmy Shergill, Divya Dutta

Directed by Vikram Bhatt

Rating: 0

Past life regression is like Reiki or market-linked mutual funds or pay hikes in journalism. You and everybody else has to believe in it wholeheartedly for it to materialize into anything. But this dangerous story that takes us through several births, a few deaths, many rented costumes and some dodgy ruins needs a little more faith and lots of laxatives to digest.

The film opens with supermodel Sanjana- trotting her high heel shoes at a Manish Malhotra show. Soon the collection is ignored to announce that she’s become the face of the year or the decade and will get to work out of Paris for year. Everyone, including Manish Malhotra goes ‘woo-hoo!’ But Sanjana’s upset to be separated from her front-row boyfriend Rohan (Rajneesh Duggal). After a few teary-eyed goodbyes, she returns to suggest that they elope in sappy drooling dialogues that won’t get your popcorn soggy. Just then, half a

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Cast: Javed Jaffrey, Nandana Sen, Ankur Vikral, man-eating leopard

Directed by Ashvin Kumar

Rating: *

A thriller can be measured for its ability to make you predict multiple outcomes. And like horror, the extent of fear and thrill that it evokes is always limited only to one’s imagination. Here, the object of our collective fear is one of the fastest man-eating cats ever- a leopard. With that knowledge, now the number of times you get to see the spotted cat will dictate the importance you assign to it. If it appears too often, you won’t care to be scared. If it appears marginally, you would be tastefully terrified and longing for more. Luckily for director Ashvin Kumar, his man-devouring billi makes a cameo and does evoke just about enough fear to sail this low-budget thriller.

The story is about a complicated couple – Pritam (Ankur Vikal) and Radha (Nandana Sen) who decide to join the birds, bees and uneducated flees in the wilderness to rekindle their failing relationship. For

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Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Isha Gupta, Manish Choudhary,  Arif Zakaria

Directed by Kunal Deshmukh

Rating: *

One thing that will puzzle you endlessly at several points during this film is why the filmmaker would’ve considered the title. Is it a metaphysical metaphor to the life of the downtrodden? Does it delve into the afterlife where our lead cast will be ushered into a ‘Jannat’ where the Bhatts aren’t in the business of making films? Neither. The true essence of the title needs much less brain picking. It refers to the twin dumplings served in a skewer in the form of the film’s leading lady. As crude as that sounds, it is infact the only logical reference one can deduce.

The film is about a jack of all trades related to guns and master of fun, Sonu Dilli KKC (Emraan Hashmi). KKC is short for ‘Kutti, Kameeni Cheez’. See, you were better off not knowing that, right? Anyway, Sonu falls under the radar of forever-brooding inspector ACP Pratap (Randeep Hooda) who wants to bust the big Read More »

Priyadarshan's TezzAfter remaking popular Malayalam films, Priyadarshan has now taken to very ineptly adapting Hollywood thrillers. His latest offering is the Keanu Reeves-Sandra Bullock starrer 'Speed', with a slight difference in the choice of the vehicle and devoid of any logic. Why else would the London Police wait for almost 10 hours for the bomber to call them and tell them how to disarm a bomb before they even start to think of an alternative? I mean if they couldn't think of it on their own, you would have expected at least one of them to have watched the 'Speed' on television considering the number of repeat runs it has had on STAR Movies.
More on Ajay Devgan on Page 2>>

It is quite obvious that Ajay Devgn is completely unconvinced about the part he is playing. I mean which illegal immigrant would actually think or manage to get sympathizers when he decides to plant bombs on a passenger train to avenge his deportation? No one, unless of course the antagonist suffers from a psychiatric Read More »

Bollywood has been historically weary of taboo subjects, whether it's sex, adultery or infertility. The only other recent film that actually made an attempt to handle a taboo subject like infertility was Meghna Gulzar's 'Filhal' where surrogacy and related complications between childhood friends (Tabu and Sushmita) was the main premise. Well, there was also Abbas-Mustan's 'Chori Chori Chupke Chupke' but let's not go there, considering it takes the concept of surrogate birth to a completely different level. Shoojit Sircar's 'Vicky Donor' attempts to explore male infertility which is a bigger taboo in a patriarchal society like ours.

Male infertility in Bollywood on Page 2>>

Humour as a storytelling device is the only way to approach a subject as sensitive as male infertility. The film's USP is its complete irreverence to this topic and Dr Chaddha's (Anu Kapoor) business-like manner of looking for an eligible sperm donor. His shady clinic in Lajpat Nagar (New Delhi) is Read More »

Cast: Ayushman Khurana, Yami Gautam, Anu Kapoor

Directed by Shoojit Sircar

Rating: ***

Movies that try to cleanse socially disreputable professions tend to get preachy and subsequently boring. But donating one’s seed to enable the seedless garden a happy family is a cause that cannot be covered in a classroom. So director Shoojit Sircar takes us to downtown old Delhi where we breeze through this hilarious adventure that ends in just 122 minutes, leaving you craving for more. While the very mention of sperm donation makes many cringe, this film manages to make the noble deed seem respectable without compromising on the hilarity that one associates with the process of donation. 

We open to a good ol’ Punjabi family who are as loud as they are adorable. The donor in the title is Vicky (Ayushman Khurana), a Punjabi munda who is yet to find his calling and is housed along with his perennially fretting mother and his grandmum who is only referred to as ‘biji’ (and who is too

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Slideshow: Bittoo BossIndian (especially, North Indian) weddings always make a colourful canvas for Hindi films. Supavitra Babul has the most popular Bollywood theme at his disposal but he fails to exploit it. The film is off to a promising start but the second half is a complete drag.

Bittoo (Pulkit Samrat) is a "v.d.o. shooter" whose wedding videos are very popular in his town. He believes in not only capturing motion but also the real emotions of his clients. The brash Bittoo falls for Mrinalini (Amita Pathak) at a wedding, who predictably reciprocates his feeling immediately after very rudely rejecting him. However, his job is clearly not enough to make a living, so she very bluntly tries to drive home the point on their very first date. Bittoo is quite obviously insulted and is out to prove himself by hook or by crook.

In his quest to become rich, he decides to make a quick transition from wedding to honeymoon videos. Sex is obviously a more profitable business proposition than capturing happiness.

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Cast: Pulkit Samrat, Amrita Pathak

Directed by Supavitra Babul

Rating: *

While Ranveer Singh’s Bittoo (Band Baaja Baaraat) set the mould for Punjabi jats with Bollywood dreams to chuck their diction classes and mouth desi-speak, this Bittoo doesn’t manage to perfect the imperfections required. Or you could say that his crudeness and misplaced machismo seems scripted and rehearsed and his stubble- meticulously parlour-ed. So for those comparing this film to Ranveer’s debut dhamaka, don’t. That one had substance, a story and well, Anushka Sharma.

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