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

Cast: Jishu Sengupta, Raima Sen, Riya Sen, Prosenjit Chatterjee

Director: Rituparno Ghosh

'Kashmakash' is the dubbed version of Rituparno Ghosh's 'Noukadubi' based on a novel by Rabindranath Tagore. It's a period film and unless you are prepared for it, you might find the notions of love, old-fashioned and the pace at which the plot unfolds, tedious.

Ramesh (Jishu Sengupta) is in love with Hemnalini (Raima Sen) and is planning to propose marriage very soon. He is suddenly summoned to his village where his father has already fixed up his marriage to a widow's daughter. He has no choice but to agree to the wedding when the widow and the would-be bride threaten to commit suicide. On his way back to Kolkata with his newly-wed wife the boat capsizes. He finds Kamla (Riya Sen), unconscious on the shore, dressed as a bride and assumes she is his wife. It's only later that he realizes that Kamla was married to someone else and she is not the woman he married.

The plot has an interesting

Pyaar Ka Punchnama

Cast: Kartikeya Tiwari, Rayo Bhakhirta, Divyendu Sharma, Sonalli Sehgal, Nushrat Bharucha, Ishita Sharma

Directed by Luv Ranjan

Rating: *

If you've reached this page, you're possibly considering this painfully tacky take on anti-rom-coms. While most films in this genre aim to prove that love can be a painful experience, this one is hell-bent on establishing that women have been created by God with a sole purpose to exploit men. While the exclusive purpose of 'Pyaar ka Punchnama' is to punch you with stereotypes, minimum wage acting and characters that make caricatures look good.

The film is about three friends who share a pad in Delhi. First, Vikrant (Raayo Bhakhirta), who looks like a cross between a watered-down Sendhil and Kunal Kapoor, has special talents: smoking, playing the guitar, maintaining a poker face and usually managing to perform these three simultaneously. Second, Rajat a.k.a Rajjo (Kartikeya Tiwari), special trait: unnecessarily smiling between all his dialogues,

Ragini MMS

Cast: Kainaz Motivala, Raj Kumar Yadav

Directed by Pawan Kriplani

Rating: ***

Those who say, they don't enjoy watching horror films, are the ones who shit their pants. Those who say they do, enjoy shitting their pants. And 'Ragini MMS' has many scenes that, well, induce one to visit the washroom. Only problem, you don't want to go alone.

Another ambassador of the found-footage genre that first got noticed in 'The Blair Witch Project', this one is not about a witch hunt, but about a hunting disembodied spirit, who finds her (yes, it's a woman) prey in anyone who happens to tread her path.

The story begins with jump cuts of a young couple filming each other with a handycam as they plan a trip out of town where, quite apparently, the idea is to get intimate. The boy, Uday (Raj Kumar Yadav) has another secret plan, while the girl, Ragini (Kainaz Motivala) is truly committed and ignorant of her boyfriend's true motives. Their love-nest happens to be an oddly-shaped bungalow in the middle

Stanley ka dabba

Cast: Divya Dutta, Partho, Amol Gupte, Divya Jagdale

Directed by Amole Gupte

Rating: ** 1/2

Stanley Ka Dabba is a deliciously candid and naturalistic portrayal of not just children but also of school teachers. Many montages in the film sweep us through the different kinds of teachers we've all had in our school life. Some- dictators like Hitler, some- you can confide in, some- who find novel ways of making the most mundane subjects seem interesting and even those who find a new excuse to pick on that one kid in class every single day. In this case, no prize for guessing who that kid is. The film succeeds in furnishing a back-to-school experience and as much as you realise what you miss, you also realise how regimented school life made us blindly follow silly things, which at the time seemed significant.

The film is about Stanley (Partho), a minor 'bol-Bachchan' loved by his friends, who look forward to his elaborate and fantastic tales about the most inconsequential things. His

Luv ka The End

Cast: Shraddha Kapoor, Taha Shah, Archana Puran Singh, Errol Marks, Sreejita De
Directed by Bumpy
Rating: ** 1/2

Bubblegum romance in Hindi films has finally come of age. So, teens will still be teens but they've grown up with a healthy appetite for Southpark and Simpsons. Consequently, apart from turning their brains into pudding, this has made them more resilient to emotional turmoil and 'moving on' after a bitter break-up is as easy as opening a can of soda. And this attitudinal change is just what this film tries to portray.

If you haven't figured it out yet, 'Luv ka The End' is not a hate story but a pun on the character's name, Luv Nanda (Taaha Shah) whose girlfriend Rhea (Shraddha Kapoor) discovers his two-timing ways and decides to script his end. And Rhea is assisted by her two friends, Gollu (Errol Marks) and Sonia (Sreejita De) in planning and executing her masterplan to kick Luv's butt. And what spans out over the night before Rhea's 18th birthday, takes us on a hilarious

Once he reaches the haunted house, Glen Manor, he is welcomed by a sound similar to Hard Kaur clearing her throat mixed with rodents making love. And if this