Cast: Manoj Bajpai, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Richa Chadda, Reemma Sen, Piyush Mishra, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi

Directed by Anurag Kashyap

Rating: ***

One of the reasons why Slumdog Millionaire was a global explosion was because it meticulously recorded and reported on the underbelly of Mumbai in a way that you could not just see but also experience the proceedings on the screen. This doesn’t mean that when you go to watch ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, the usher would come and stab you silly or the popcorn vendor would hold a bucket to your chest to buffer the sound of a pointblank fire. But what you see and hear will surely make you a happy hostage, willing to surrender to Wasseypur: a land where ‘kabootars’ multitask and uprooting rail tracks to loot carriages is hardly a task.

Firstly, here’s what you shouldn’t expect from this film. If your neighbour/ friend/ colleague/ driver told you that this film is based on the coal mafia, he/she didn’t know any better. The central characters are Read More »from Gangs of Wasseypur review

Ferrari Ki SawaariRajesh Mapuskar's "Ferrari Ki Sawaari" is a well-intentioned film but it tries too hard to strike an emotional chord. While an interesting plot and some fine writing could have made this film stand-out but a light-hearted film infused with too much sentimentality spoils the fun.

Rusy's (Sharman Joshi) son is a gifted 12-year-old who is a young aspiring cricketer. Despite limited means Rusy wants to do the best for his son. The little boy gets a chance to go to Lords for a cricketing camp and Rusy has to somehow arrange for a big sum of money to make his dream come true. In comes a local politician who wants Sachin Tendulkars's Ferrari on loan for his son's wedding. Rusy becomes the connection between the Ferrari, Sachin Tendulkar and the money that the groom's father is ready to shell out for the 'Ferrari ki sawaari'. The honest and upright Rusy succumbs to pressure and tries to make quick money to pay for the camp but the simple plan obviously goes all wrong.

Sharman Joshi and Boman

Read More »from Review: Ferrari Ki Sawaari

Cast: Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani, Ritvik Sahore

Directed by Rajesh Mapuskar

Rating: **1/2

Films like these are rare. If you evaluate ‘Ferrari Ki Sawaari’ with the usual metrics set for comedies, it lacks everything that would get a film distributer to bounce his belly or seduce an audience member to shell a chunk of his weekend budget on a multiplex ticket. No Bollywood A-listers, no comedy of errors where people get seriously injured, double meaning jokes- absent. And it doesn’t even have a story that’s compelling enough when you narrate it. But if this film does craft anything with delicious enthusiasm, it has to be the amiable characters that manage to hassle you with their problems and allow you to relish their joys as if they were your own.

The film takes us into the unremarkable life of this Parsi family comprising three generations of men. Grandpa Deboo or Mota baba (Boman Irani) is grumpier than the average grumpy person of his age and is perpetually plopped in front of the

Read More »from Ferrari Ki Sawaari review

Movie Stills: ShanghaiDibakar Banerjee's 'Shanghai' is an intense political thriller that has a tight script and commendable acting holding the plot together all along. Banerjee's plots are rooted in reality and this one explores the issue of illegal land acquisition.

An upcoming International Business Park (IBP) holds the promise of transforming a small Indian town into Shanghai. On the eve of its launch, a social activist Dr Ahmedi (Prosenjit Chatterjee), who is protesting illegal land acquisition by the multi-national company, is killed by a speeding truck. The professor's adherents believe that this was a political conspiracy, devised and executed by the state's ruling party.

Was it an accident or a premeditated murder attempt? Shalini Pearson Sahay (Kalki Kochelin) fights a lone battle to unravel the murder mystery and seeks the help of a shady porn filmmaker Jogi (Emraan Hashmi). A high-ranking bureaucrat, T.A. Krishnan (Abhay Deol) is brought in to investigate the case but the ministry doesn't really

Read More »from Yahoo! Movies Review: Shanghai

Rowdy RathoreWhile we might complain about the lack of originality, 'Rowdy Rathore' has already set the cash registers ringing. Prabhudheva seems to have mastered the art of remaking Southern super-hit films for Bollywood without the slightest attempt at novelty.

Anupama Chopra says that the film is a "relentless assault":

Don't Angry Me! Akshay Kumar bellows this often in Rowdy Rathore. At one point, the command even plays out as background music. I think viewers need to co-opt the line. To all the directors, producers, actors who are inflicting eighties-style, low-IQ, deafeningly loud, unapologetically crass, mind-numbing movies on us, I just want to say: Don't angry me! Don't exhaust me! Don't bludgeon me!

Raja Sen says that 'Rowdy Rathore' may be "moronically stupid and entirely pointless" but is far less objectionable:

We've seen it all before and apparently going by the numbers generated by Ghajini, Wanted, Dabangg, Bodyguard, Ready and Singham -- that's what we want. A good meaty chunk of

Read More »from Y! Meta Review: Rowdy Rathore

Prabhudheva's 'Rowdy Rathore' is a typical masala film, packed with romance, drama, melodrama and lots of action. The film is loaded with Tamil-style punch lines, slow motion action sequences where blood quietly trickles on to dusty ground and menacing-looking villains who live in a Ramgarh-styled (remember, Sholay) haunt.

The protagonist is a smart small time conman who is ready to mend his ways when he falls in love. Just when he is ready to turn over a new leaf, he runs into a small girl who thinks he is her father and some goons who are people vying for his blood. A few chases and some confusion later, we realize that Shiva (our conman) has been mistaken for Vikram Singh Rathore, an upright and courageous police officer.

Prabhudheva manages to blend the many ingredients that can spice-up this potpourri. However, too much time is spent on the back story. We would much rather see more of Rowdy Rathore than a long tragic flashback.

Akshay Kumar in a double role returns

Read More »from Yahoo! Movies Review: Rowdy Rathore

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Rana Daggubati, Madhu Shalini, Lakshmi Manchu, Nathalia Kaur

Directed by Ram Gopal Varma

Rating: Minus One

RGV worshippers ready to throng multiplexes to catch this tickling thriller must be equally prepared to feature in an upcoming episode of ‘Satyamev Jayate’. This is because the ace filmmaker’s camera angles could leave them spooned, smooched, thumped to the ground and splashed under a water cooler. Infact RGV’s decidedly jerky camera takes us where no man, woman or Jadoo has ever been. From inside tea cups to the labyrinths of nostrils, from being tossed around as the striker on a carom board to being flung across the beach as a ball (this one gets you clinically dizzy). But in most cases, you end up on the floor pretty close to where your dignity is for picking this film. Abused? Yes. Amused? Unintentionally. Fist? Clenched.
 
The movie begins with the following prophetic words, ‘Power corrupts’. And while you mull over these two words

Read More »from Department review

Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra

Directed by Habib Faisal

Rating: ** 1/2

We’ve all seen love stories featuring inter-caste couples, ‘Bombay’ being one of the finest in that league. So we know exactly what to expect when ‘Ishaqzaade’ shows sparks of ending up like one. Basic elements in such films: cultural differences are brushed aside for a healthy tolerance if not acceptance of each other’s religious beliefs, fierce parental opposition leading to arms being pulled out of the holster and so on. But this film makes a very simple yet crucial point: the story doesn’t need to be radically different to throw you off your feet. It is the treatment and the finer nuances of presentation which qualify as laudable differentiators. For one- the filmic reality is done away with and how situations pan out are way more believable than in most films. So if they’re in love and you’re happy to see them like that doesn’t mean that the director will indulge in your candy floss fantasy. So

Read More »from Ishaqzaade review