Love Aaj Kal: Movie Review

Imtiaz Ali is back with a bang....He keeps on growing as a director as well as a story teller...each of his movies have been good...be it socha na tha (very cute) or jab we met (very adorable) or love aaj kal (very soulful)...

presentation is quite similar to rang de basanti as it tries to draw a parallel between aaj and kal...but everything has been interwoven quite beautifully...the sepia toned kal exceptionally fits into the glossy aaj....it brilliantly depicts long distance relationships, break-ups, reunions....many of the scenes/dialogues reminded me of my past 3-4 months ;)

coming to performances saif is back to his "Hum tum" days...acts extremely well...thgh wld still prefer him in Omkara, Ek Haseena Thi, DCH and Hum Tum...he is present in almost every frame...deepika is exceptional...her best till date...watch out the way she smiles, cries, smirks, emotes, laughs...everything is so beautiful abt her...check her in the chor bazaari song..she is the new kid to watch out for....she is a mare for a long race :)....rishi is decent...harleen is cute...neetu's appearance brought a smile...still looks very gracious...

dialogues could have been better...was expecting more tongue in cheek dialogues after jab we met...film was a bit disappointing in that department...cinematography is excellent so is the art direction...choreography cld have been better specially for Twist and Aahun Aahun...

LAK is the best album of this year so far....each of the songs is hummable...be it Twist (a national rage), Aahun Aahun (a punjabi number), Chor Bazaari (extremely cute), Main Kya Hoon (beautifully picturised), Aaj Din Chadiye (Rahat always at his best), Ye Dooriyan (Mohit does it again)...

waiting for the DVD to come out...

New York: Movie Review

nice movie after a long bollywood hiatus...anyways this year we have seen only a handful of decent movies....only luck by chance and dev D come to my mind...
i bet this movie would prove to be a turning point in the career of John, Katrina and Neil....all of them have given their career best performance specially John Abraham...i never thght he could act so well....his expressions in the flashback scene were exceptional....one could literally feel the pain that he was going thru...Katrina too was a revelation...her acting in the pre-climax scenes is applause-worthy....finally she is able to act ;)....Neil's acting brings back memories of Johny Gaddar..he looks convincing thruout the movie....in some scenes (early college days) he looks more dashing than John....i will leave it for the gals to figure it out..Irfan is a powerhouse...he portrays his FBI role so effortlessly...thgh not one of his best i wld still count it as one of his better ones...
Kabir's direction is pretty tidy...much better than Kabul Express...editing could have been crispier in the 2nd half..post interval movie seems to astray a bit...director could have given more stress on the terrorist motive...that wld have held the audiences till the very end...few scenes looks straight out of The Departed and Crash...in fact the base plot looks almost similar to that of The Departed...the visuals are eye-catching and so are the actor's wardrobe....Abercrombie and American Eagle rules the 1st half...
Songs though few are exceptional...amongst the best of the year...each of the 3 songs in the movie is hummable...Hai Junoon is about friendship..Mere Sang is about love/consolation and Tune Jo Na Kaha is about separation...Mohit has sung Tune Jo Na Kaha really well....
I wld recommend this movie for all those who liked Dil Chahta Hai, Rock On, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Fiza, Mission Kashmir...

Movie Review: The Reader

Kate is too good in this movie...check her expressions throughout the movie...her eyes speak more than she does (she is very few dialogues).....

story is about Kate who once worked as a guard prisoner and was supposedly responsible for the death of 300 Nazis...throughout her life she didnt tell anyone that she was illiterate and due to this she got life imprisonment

she very well got the academy award for this movie....though had wished "Eternal Sunshine from Spotless Mind" could have been her 1st oscar....

Run Lola Run

a thrilling German movie...movie shows the same incident with 3 different outcomes...each outcome being better than the previous one....

Basic Plot

story is about a couple Manni and Lola...Manni has sold diamonds to a merchant and is planning to give that money to his boss...however he forgets the money while disembarking from the train and a bum gets hold of him...since he is not able to pay the money to his boss, he is given a deadline of 12 nooon to get 100,000 marks....Manni calls up Lola at 11:40 AM and tell her that he is in deep trouble and is in urgent need of 100,000 marks in 20 mins....if he is unable to get the money he will rob the superstore in front of the phone booth..

Outcomes

Characters and incidents repeat in each of the outcomes...each sequences in the outcomes have been shot at the same place...though the outcome is a bit different..the best one is the last outcome where the couple walks away with 127,000 marks (won in a casino) and are even able to repay 100,000 marks (which Manni is able to retrieve from the bum)....

Righteous Kill: Legends come together

pretty decent thriller...thgh was expecting more considering de niro's and pacino's repertoire...

Story revolves arnd 2 cops De Niro (Turk) and Pacino (Rooster) who are trying to solve a case of serial killers who has killed 14 people...turns out at the end that rooster himself is the serial killer...throughout the move viewer thinks that it is turk who is doing this act however it turns out to be the other way...

Following: What a beginning for Nolan

this guy is truly a genius...Nolan should now make such short/interesting movies after mega blockbusters like Dark Knight and Batman Begins....the story is so beautifully narrated...there are several twists and the non linear plot (like Memento and Prestige) keeps you thinking...

ths story basically revolves arnd 3 characters Bill, Cobb and the blonde...Bill is a compulsive follower who has the habit of following people and see where they end..on one such instance he follows Cobb...Cobb who is a burglar befriends him and starts involving him in petty crimes...in the meantime Bill gets into a relationship with a blonde (who is constantly being blackmailed a local club owner)....On her request, Bill decides to loot the club's safe so as to retrieve blonde's sleazy pics and money...however it turns out that the safe didnt have any of her pics and Bill realizes that he is being used as a pawn...While looting the safe he also injures one of the policeman with a hammer...

At a later point it is revealed that Cobb was manipulating Bill so as to have him caught by police for a murder of an old woman in which he was involved (thgh he didnt commit it)...however here comes another twist...there is no such old woman and in fact Bill (who is working for the club owner) has killed the blonde...since Bill had previously looted blonde's house he is held guilty by the police.....

Bridge on River Kwai

fairly long movie though engrossing...

story is about british POWs who are held captive by Japanese force during WWII. the POWs are forced to build a bridge that would aid Japanese in moving resources from Bangkok to Burma...POWs are unware of the reason for building the bridge. Their leader Nicholson though reluctant finally succumbs and helps Japanese build the bridge. In face he suggests better alternatives. However one of their prisoners Shears who had escaped from Japanese meets another British officer who is planning to blast Kwai bridge. Movie culminates when both Shears and Nicholson are killed and the bridge is destroyed.

Great tracks from 2008

the year belonged to ARR..thx to Jodha Akbar, Ada, JTYJN, Yuvraaj, Slumdog and Ghajini

Kabhi Kabhi Aditi (JTYJN): This was my fav track of the year....the song is very peppy and is unlike any of the prev ARR numbers...Rashid has a gr8 future....

Jaane Kyu (Dostana): Follows closely behind Kabhi Kabhi..Vishal does complete justice to the song..alongwith Aditi I wld say that Jaane Kyu is one of the peppiest tracks that I have heard in last few yrs..

Jashn-e-Bahaara (Jodha Akbar): Pure brilliance...simply love the song and the lyrics...

Kaise Mujhe (Ghajini): Nice composition...Benny is ably assisted by Shreya

Ahista Ahista (Bachna Ae Haseeno): a pacy number from Lucky Ali....beats are too good..

Teri Ore (Singh Is King): another romantic number from Shreya...Shreya is so good at romantic numbers that I wld definitely put her on par with greats like Lata, Alka and Sadhna Sargam...Rahat too is brilliant..

Zara si dil (Jannat): The combo of KK and Pritam always guarantee a hit..

Mar Jaawa (Fashion): rendered well by Shruti

U Me aur Hum: one more romantic number from Shreya

Ajnabi Khwab (Superstar): it never got the recognition that it deserved...

Tu Muskura (Yuvraaj):  Alka sings a great track after a very long time and she still sounds fresh...