13B Bollywood Movie Review

HORROR films pretty much follow a similar format. Everyone is happy initially. Then, a series of bizarre, scary events traumatise one character thanks to which s/he digs up the past. Finally, the restless souls get their revenge and are at peace. The protagonist gets back to his/her normal life. And all’s well that ends well.

And so it is in 13B, that Manohar (R Madhavan) moves into flat, number 13B, at a posh building with his huge family, including wife Priya (Neetu Chandra), and his serial-loving mother (Poonam Dhillon). Soon, strange things start happening to him -- the elevator doesn’t work only for him; somehow they can’t complete setting up the puja room; the milk gets spoilt every morning; the television switches on by itself at 1300 hours, on channel number 13, to a serial called Sab Khairiyat. A closer look at Sab Khairiyat shows many similarities between the TV family and Manohar’s own. Coincidence forces him to realise this, until he gradually starts depending on the serial to see what happens next in his life.

He realises the serial plays only in his house, and that it is trying to tell him something. With his inspector friend (Murli Sharma) and family doctor Balram Shinde (Sachin Khedekar), Manohar figures out what the people in the serial are trying to tell him. This helps him save his family from being massacred.13B is scary. Goosebumps are guaranteed along the ride. The sound effects and background score by Tubby and Parik up the scare factor.

As does the cinematography by PC Sriram and H Laxminarayan, which is full of close-ups. The film is bathed in a dull, grey hue throughout; there are no bright colours, adding to the eerie feel. Madhavan carries the film ably on his shoulders. Neetu Chandra is good in her simple role. Poonam Dhillion acts her part effortlessly.

Murli Sharma does well as Madhavan’s friend. Sachin Khedekar makes an impact, too.The climax is long-winded and the film could have been cut short by at least half an hour. Thrillers need to be taut. You can predict certain portions in the film, but the climax is rather hard to guess. The film has that going for it.Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s score falls below the mark.

Little Zizou Bollywood Movie Review

Xerxes or Zizou (Jahan) wants to meet his idol, Zinedine Zidane. So he talks to his deceased mother’s picture, conveying all his wishes. His elder brother Art (Imaad) makes wonderful graphics and he and his friends are designing a cockpit simulator.

Art’s father Khodaiji is fanatic and fraud, completely against interracial marriages. Problems arise when Zizou and Art get friendly to Boman Pressvala’s (Boman Irani) family. Art loves Zenobia (Dilshad Patel) and Zizou is close to Mrs. Roxy Pressvala (Zenobia Shroff). He wants to become friends with animal lover Liana (Iyanah Baltivala).

All hell breaks loose when Mr. Pressvala runs a negative article against Khodaiji in his publication.Little Zizou is a delightful and very funny film, depicting the way of life of the Parsis. The performances by one and all are excellent. Jahan is so cute and adorable. He expresses his bereavement so well that your heart goes out to him.

Iyanah Baltivala is very expressive as the smart and clever Liana.. John Abraham looks super hot in the two scenes he has. Zenobia Shroff as Roxy, the concerned wife is wonderful. Boman Irani is brilliant as always. It is amazing how he gets into the skin of the character each time. Shernaz Patel as Khodaiji’s stressed secretary is lovely too. Sourabh Ardeshir plays his part as the religious fraud so well that you hate him. Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal has just two scenes, but she makes an impact with her colourful and interesting character.

She is the only untidy Parsi in the movie. Imaad Shah plays his part sensitively.There are many memorable moments in the film, like the scenes with Cyrus Broacha and John Abraham, the speech that Liana makes in the end, the scene where Zizou confronts his elder brother about their mother’s death, when Zizou breaks the ice with Liana.

You wonder what took Sooni Taraporewala so long to make her directorial debut because she has made a very enetertaining and heartwarming film about Parsis and their inter-personal relationships. It doesn’t look like a debut film. We cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.All in all, Little Zizou is a sweet, feel good film that you must see. It will stay with you long after it is over.

Jai Veeru Bollywood Movie Review

Even before I was ten minutes into this movie, I knew it was going to be a long (read bad) one. As a part of my job, I had to stick it out till the very end.

But let me tell you what others were doing during the filming. First and foremost there were a handful of couples who were least bothered about the proceedings in the movie. Then I spotted a guy who was reading a newspaper with the help of the light from his phone in the pitch dark theatre, as the movie failed to interest him.

Now if you still want to know what Jai Verru is all about, here goes: Veeru (Kunal Khemu) is a small time thief who becomes best friends with undercover cop Jai (Fardeen Khan). Obviously he doesn’t know about Jai’s true identity. Veeru is working for dangerous don Tejpal Yadav (Arbaaz Khan). While on a holiday, he falls in love with Divya (Anjana Sukhani) He tries to set up Jai with him, so that his friend can also make some extra cash.

Jai, the cop, along with his superior, Ranbir Singh (Govind Namdeo), grabs this opportunity to arrest Yadav but the plan goes awfully wrong. Veeru shoots Jai by mistake and runs away to Bangkok. Jai recovers and wants nothing more than killing than Veeru. He also finds a romantic partner in his nurse, Anna (Dia Mirza). He then goes about getting revenge as a cop and acquiring Yadav's little black book of contacts.

So is it worth a dekko?For starters, these movies went out with the nineties. The dialogues are silly and forgettable. Anjana Sukhani should stop acting because she can’t. Her entry has her emerging from the sea to send the hero’s heart into a tizzy. Hasn’t she seen how slim Kareena Kapoor., Esha Deol and Bipasha Basu, even Neha Dhupia have looked in similar scenes? Anjana has bulges and nothing about her is eye popping.

We don’t know what Kunal Khemu liked about her. The action has a very Dhoom 1 and 2 feel to it. So there is nothing new there. Some scenes have been flicked from M: I 2. Even the background score is jarring and ‘inspired’ from Hollywood action flicks. The other songs are alright. The song between Fardeen and Dia was totally unnecessary.

Why did the producer waste so much money on it, I wonder.Kunal Khemu isn’t hero material but he has decent acting skills and comic timing. Fardeen Khan should learn something from him. I guess his Hindi isn’t very good so most of his dialogues are in English. Arbaaz Khan can’t act and is unconvincing as the dangerous Don. Dia Mirza looks pretty and does action sequences well.Jai Veeru is just a waste of time. Please stay away.

Lottery Bollywood Movie Review

Rohit Avasti (Abhijeet Sawant) is a junior accountant with a leading fashion magazine. And while he may not be brilliant in his job, he loves being there as he gets to spend time with his Simran (Manisha Kelkar) whom he loves a lot.

That’s besides the point that she couldn’t care less for him in real life. But since she knows that he has a decent position in the office, she uses him for her gain. One day Soha (Rucha Gujrati) is introduced to Rohit and can’t help but fall for him. She is well aware of his feelings for Simran but that doesn’t stop her. She has her own emotional baggage and believes that Rohit is her knight in shining armour.

Now while Rohit believes that Simran is the one for him, he also begins depending on Soha for help. Every time he is in a spot of bother, he turns to Soha. And slowly but surely the two get together exactly as how Soha wished and hoped for. But just when things are going fine for Rohit, he finds himself in the midst of bet with which he had nothing to do. Rohit is told that a pregnant lady whom he does not know is about to deliver a baby.

If she delivers a baby girl Rohit stands to win rupees 3 lakhs in cash and if in case she delivers a baby boy Rohit will get nothing. Now the lure of making that much money and standing nothing to lose, Rohit bets on a girl being born and lucky for him he wins the bet. Now egged on by the first win, he enters into a second bet – this time worth 7 lakhs. However, sadly for him the last bet for one crore rupees turns ugly and Rohit is framed for a murder, which he did not commit. Will Rohit be able to save himself?The film thoroughly disappoints.

Abhijeet Sawant who makes his Bollywood debut in this film needs to stick to singing. There is a reason why he has been given a great voice – can he first make it completely in that sphere before he decides to turn to acting. And if he does want to act, can he learn how the art works first? Rucha Gujrati comes across as those teenage girls who dream of being an actress in Bollywood and will take any role that comes their way.

That is a well thought of, good or even worth their while is completely forgotten. Let’s not even get into the remaining cast.Hemant Prabhu needs to go back to the first draft of his script that he may have got years back. Please compare that script with what he has served us on screen. If it is exactly the same, I want to know why that script wasn’t burned. And if it isn’t, then please tell us why!All in this entire lottery isn’t going to work for anyone. And least of all you and me!

Aalo Chat Bollywood Movie Review

Aloo Chaat is the age old film that revolves around parents trying to fix an arranged marriage for their son while he has his eyes on another girl. Nikhil (Aftab Shivdasani) is trying to deal with his narrow minded parents who are all set to get him married with a Punjabi girl of their choice.

He on the other hand is in love with Aamna (Aamna Sharif) but is not able to disclose that to his family. And so he uses his father’s friend to help convince his father that Aamna is the girl for Nikhil. Will he succeed? Aloo Chaat disappoints you at many levels. Aftab’s acting is very mediocre. Aamna is even worse.

And I don’t think it’s the actors who need to be blamed for it. The screenplay is so clichéd and so mediocre that anyone would be bored of the script.As a part of the audience, I yawned through most of the film and was so restless all through out. I actually knew the end even before we got there because the script was so filled with the same situations that we have seen on so many occasions in so many movies that this film felt more like a hot pot of all those films.Robby Grewal’s direction is nothing spectacular either.

He does an average job and sadly for him the results at the box office will also be average – if that!This is one chaat that will only give you indigestion and so our advice is to stay far away from it!

Firaaq Bollywood Movie Review

I went to see Firaaq with really high expectations after all the stunning reviews it had got at various festivals. Although the film was a tad moving, it wasn’t as great as I expected it to be. But one thing is for sure that although you may not like it immediately after you see it but some images of it will remain with you long after.

The story is set a month after the communal riots in Gujarat, depicting how everyone’s lives continue to be haunted by the riot. Deepti Naval, a Gujarati housewife punishes herself for not giving shelter to a Muslim girl during the riots; Sanjay Suri is scared to death because he is a Muslim; his wife Anuradha, played by Tisca Chopra, is a Hindu. Shahana Goswami, is a Muslim mehendiwali who thinks her Hindu best friend might just be responsible for setting her house on fire. Mohsin aka Mohan, played by Mohammed Samad, is a Muslim boy orphaned in the riots. Naseeruddin Shah is a musician who cannot accept the reality of the riots and Raghubir Yadav provides him company.

Just how each of these individuals deal with the impact of the riots in their lives is what Firaaq is all about.The performances are excellent to say the least. Sanjay Suri expresses his fear well and Tisca complements him perfectly. Deepti Naval as the suppressed housewife is wonderful. Shahana Goswami, delivers another brilliant performance. It is amazing how she fits into any role. Naseeruddin Shah is perfectly natural; he IS the character.

Ditto for Paresh Rawal who is absolutely flawless and makes you hate his Gujarati MCP lecherous character.The production design is flawless. It has been shot in Hyderabad but you will think it is Ahmedabad through and through. There is attention to detail in every frame. The mixed languages: English, Hindi and Gujarati lend authenticity to the film. You feel the fear and helplessness of the characters. It moves you in that way.However, what goes against the film is that it is awfully slow paced. It is less than two hours long but feels much longer. Also, it ends rather abruptly with none of the ends tying up like they should.

There is no proper closure to the stories and you don’t expect the movie to end when it does. It is abstract. But maybe that is the point Nandita Das is trying to make - that riots and violence do not make any sense and they leave us with many questions unanswered. The loss cannot be measured.Nandita Das has an interesting voice and vision and extracts impeccable performances from her stellar cast to tell a personal story. If you can be patient while watching a film, go and see Firaaq.