Ghajini

Ghajini a pretty catchy name, isn't it. Well the movie too lives up to its name. It keeps you at the edge of your seat and the story behind the name keeps you guessing for a while. Its pretty good for a tamil/english movie remake. Asin the original tamil movie actress is pretty impressive. Well thats the one thing about an Aamir starrer his co-actresses are equally talented even if they are just starting their career in hindi films. Be it Rani in Ghulam, Gracy Singh in Lagaan or Asin in Ghajini the common factor is that they are talented actresses who got their first hits with Aamir. Aamir's plays a guy that suffers amnesia due to his beloved's death. His character is very intense and he plays it beautifully. Its a good complete hindi entertainer with a light-hearted love story in the first half , catchy Rehman numbers , followed by a serious but interesting second half. Aamir looks pretty young and chirpy with his eight packs , way better than his fanaa look. A definite hit , I would give it 4 stars.

Dostana

With the Kantaben syndrome gaining quite some popularity in Kal Ho Na Ho looks like Karan Johar decided to cash on it with an entire movie based on it. As the promo's give it out both Abhishek and John fake a gay act to be eligible roomies to Priyanka. There are quite a few interesting situations in the movie that will surely tickle your funny bone. Although both Abhishek and John were encouraging kids to watch the movie in their promo talks , there are quite a few adult jokes and even a song that sounds like wtf@@k. Abhishek and John form a good pair. It seems at times that Abhishek has a few more dialogues. John on the other hand looks way too hot , even showing some skin making him the ideal gay icon. Its good to see that bollywood is finally adressing the gay subject and that too in such a comic way. The song "Maa ka ladla bigadh gaya" is pretty catchy too. Overall a good movie I would give it 3 stars.

Singh is King

Another Akhay Kumar genre of a film. Wasn't expecting this one to be a full on comedy, it seemed from the promos to be more of an action movie. But was pleasantly surprised. The comedy scene in bolly movies has definitely improved these days. Akshay was at his usual self and was supported well by Om puri. The costumes in the movie were pretty good I liked Akshay's printed kurtas that he wore in the village scenes and also his heavily embroidered ones when he played don in Australia. Katrina's role was limited to wearing pretty clothes and doing some dance numbers. Neha Dhupia had more of a character role than her.

Surprising the songs by Pritam did not do the trick this time, none of them were good. If you want to watch a light hearted comedy this ones for you. Good performances , a strong star cast and beautiful locations spanning Egypt and Australia. Overall I would give it 3 stars.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

With all the hype around Aamir's production and his nephew it lived up to quite of it. The movie has some excellent treatment of typical hindi movie scenes. My favorite is definitely when Rotlu asks for "Coke on the rocks". Also the scene on how Imran avoids the college squabble was different. Between Imran and Genelia, she definitely stole the show for me. Imran still has some growing up to do as an actor but Genelia was pretty confident and at ease in her role. The scenes with Ratna pathak and Naseeruddin shah who played Imran's parents were pretty well done too. On the other hand the ones with Sohail and Arbaaz Khan seemed like a stretch. Overall a college flick should be pretty popular with the younger crowds. I will give it 3 and 1/2 stars.

Mere Baap Pehle Aap

We decided to take our father for this one on father's day. The movie did get us a few good chuckles. But inspite of being a fan of Akshay Khanna and his comic roles in the past this one just didn't do it for us. Looked like priyadarshan tried really hard to make us laugh. Akshay and new actress Genelia did overact in certain scenes. Paresh Rawal and Om Puri were much better and held their court well. Archana Puran Singh's scenes were good too. But overall the movie felt like a drag at times. I will not totally undermine it but it can definitely wait to be watched on the dvd. I would give it 2 and 1/2 stars

Sarkar Raj

Sarkar Raj proves that Ram Gopal Varma should stick to movies about the underworld. With a slew of flops and really unbearable movies atleast this one was a good one time watch. The first half was definitely more catchy, the second half a little bit of a drag. The dialogues in the movie were pretty good. Amitabh and son give a good performance so do the numerous villains. The latest addition to the bachchan family though Aish was a disappointment her character was weak and non effective. Tanisha had a tiny role too but for a long time it was difficult to tell who she was playing was she Abhishek's wife , bhabhi or someone else.

The unfolding of the plot in the end was done well too. The background score of govinda govinda was catchy too, I heard kids humming the tune leaving the theatre. Overall I would give it 3 stars.

Race

Another Abbas Mastan duo suspense movie from the likes of Humraaz and Naqaab. The movie is definitely a good one time watch. The plot is interesting as it keeps unfolding with one surprise after the other. While some of them are predictable a few are pretty good and keeps your curiousity going. All the actor and actresses look hot and happening. Bipasha and Saif steal the show when it comes to hot looks, Katrina trailing right behind. But Akshay leaves them all behind with his natural and flawless acting. Anil Kapoor and Sameera try to mimic the Karamchand and Kitty jodi. Only the carrots are replaced by fruits this time around. But Sameera unfortunately is not as funny as Kitty. The comedy in the movie is on and off and is pretty good. Songs are catchy and the dance moves trendy. All is all a timepass masala flick.

Jodhaa Akbar

After a dry spell at the cinemas for a while we finally saw the movie Jodhaa Akbar today. Have been always fascinated with the Mughal era and the customes and traditions that existed in that period. Was eagerly awaiting for this movie. The movie lived up to my expectation quite a bit but cannot say completely. I was expecting some more. A little more history I would say.

The costumes, the jewellery and the sets were excellent. Whether it was the red and gold jari ghaghara of Aishwariya or the the stone studded sherwani of Hrithik. Even the mojadis were very ornate. Aishwariya's yellow, rust and red ghaghara cholis depicted the colors or Rajasthan beautifully. The war scenes were pretty well done too. They seemed very real and majestic too.
There was also a tiny glimpse of the mughal zenana and the eunuchs that served them.

Hrithik and Aishwariya's performance fared well but could have had a little more panache. The first half of the movie was definitely a lot more enjoyable. The second half dragged a little bit. I enjoyed the parts that touched history like Akbar's tolerance to Hinduism and how that changed the Mughal influence in India. I guess I was hoping to see more on Akbar's court like his "navratan" etc. But I guess the movie was more about Jodhaa and Akbar and not just Akbar and how that changed history. All in all I would give it 3 stars.

Welcome

Well christmas was a time for let downs for us. After Saawariya came another one and this was the movie Welcome. A slapstick comedy that made me cry. We watched it with family and our uncle who usually finds pjs funny had trouble laughing here too. The script was very weak. The lineup was great with Anil, Nana , Akshay and Paresh but what a waste of their talents. Katrina was just there for the songs. From the promos it looked promising but did not live up to it.

Another 2 and 1/2 stars and can be easily missed too.

Saawariya

After the heavy criticism of this movie from friends and family, we finally managed to watch this movie. Well what I can say is that they were not wrong. I was very disappointed with SLB. I usually like his movies but this was a let down. It is supposed to be one of the most expensive movies made and yes the money has been spent on the sets. But unfortunately the set looks very fake and not at all impressive. Ranbeer and sonam were not so bad. But the constant giggling of sonam was sometimes driving me crazy. Rani mukherjee over acted. Sallu was the only one I could tolerate although he was only for 10 min or so. SLB supposedly had worked hard to make ranbeen and sonam look like raj kapoor and nargis but still it failed to impress.

Overall a 2 and 1/2 stars can be easily missed.

Taare Zameen Par

Another amazing movie by Aamir Khan, hats off to him. It was very touching, moving and heart-wrenching experience. The boy who played the part of Ishaan, Darsheel Safary was simply great. His expressions were so real and his face so innocent but at the same time mischievous. When Aamir mentioned this boy is going to steal the show from him, in his promotional appearance on TV he was so right. A great find with a bright future. Also an amazing lineup of stars with superb performances. The mother played by Tisca was a very lovable character. Her relationship with Ishaan was very beautifully depicted. The song played when she leaves him behind at the boarding school "Main andhere se darta hoon Maa" brought tears to my eyes. Also the over ambitious father was played pretty convincingly too. His boarding school pal and his supportive brother were good too. All in all Aamir shows his directorial talents.

The movie is an awakening for the over ambitious parents and teachers who expect nothing less than top grades from the young ones. With parents pushing for doctors and engineers in most Indian households this movie is so right on the dot. The message conveyed of letting children follow their dreams and treating them as special was very noble. Actually it reminds me of the Montessori school principle which was developed by Dr Montessori based on her learning’s from teaching mentally challenged kids. The principle emphasizes on letting children learn at their pace as well as driving them towards their interests. Every child is different and should be respected for being so. Most schools these days try to groom kids all in the same way as if they were units produced in a factory. I could hear so many people reminiscing their strict childhood teachers and school days in the interval. It was just such a true depiction of the competitive world of young children today.

I would highly recommend it. A 4 starrer!.

Aaja Nachle

Yesterday we decided to celebrate our anniversary desi style. We went to see Aaja Nachle as we both like Madhuri and my husband would just not agree to see Saawariya :-). Overall a good movie I enjoyed it. Madhuri looks pretty stunning in her blue ghaghara in the title song. Sometimes you can see the age but mostly she looks good. She plays a dance teacher from NY who comes back to India to revive a dying theatre. The songs are pretty hummable. Kunal Kapoor looks awesome as he always does to me. Konkana Sen's acting is good , but I would have preferred a little more good looking laila against Kunal. Also a pretty good lineup of supporting stars too like Akshaya Khanna, Mukherji lady (kitty from karamchand fame), Divya Dutta and Irfan are all good. All in all a 3 starrer. If you are a Madhuri fan you should watch it.

Mumbai Salsa

This movie is about 3 couples living in mumbai that end up meeting at a salsa club. The cultural picture painted was sometimes alien. But then metro's like mumbai are closest in aping the west so I shouldn't be surprised. No familiar faces in this one all new stars. I was hoping to see some good salsa numbers but there was just 1 or 2 small ones nothing great. The movie is definitely a dvd watch. I would give it 2 1/2 stars

Om Shanti Om

We truly had a happy diwali! yesterday, watching om shanti om starring Shahrukh and Deepika Padukone. The show was house full as expected. Folks were dressed in diwali wear even the guys showed up in silk kurtas. We stood in a long line for about 30 min to get in. People were really enthused it was difficult to keep them out, we entered the theatre even before the previous show had exited. :-). Which was fun! The movie started with Rishi Kapoor's song om shanti om and the whole theatre was humming along. Now I understand why movies are released during Diwali

The movie was a funny spoof spanning the 60's and 90's. If you are a bollywood trivia fan like me you will totally enjoy it. I am sure some of the funny dialogs will be reminisced in party jokes to come. Actually I think I like Shahrukh more in a comic role than any of his other stupid ventures. Deepika was sweet but could have had a longer role. Vishal and shekhar's music was great. Vishal even got to play a small role. Overall I would give this 3 and half stars. I am even leaning towards to a 4 considering the diwali timing and the fun we had yesterday. Its a must watch! Good job Farah.

Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa

This bollywood version of Dancing with the Stars helps cater to my bolly dance addiction. With some odd pairs and funky new people this year, it has kept my interest. What is sad about the bolly one are the costumes though. They simply dont live up the mark and sometimes make a really good performance not so good. Also the dance moves lack the agility and finesse sometimes of their western counterparts. I guess we have more work to do on our sambas and rumbas.But then there is always the bollywood masala which makes up for the flaws :-). Like the occasional appearance of the stars. like the new duo sonam and ranbir. The madness of Mika, who is obnoxious. Negi's simple and adorable dance and Cyrus' total bakwas. My favourite here was Mini Mathur but she was ousted too soon :-(. If I had to choose one now it would be Prachi.

But to my dismay she was dismissed too. Now my only hope is that she might come back in the wild card entry. Finally mika left. Urmila's reaction to his comments were pretty funny though. Will be voting for prachi.

Johnny Gaddar

This saturday after a great time pass day with our friends we started to see Johnny Gaddar at 11:30 PM. I had a hard time keeping awake. It was hard for me to decide if it was the late night or just the movie itself. The hype surrounding the movie did not live up to my expectations. Some of my friends had a different view point though. It has a pretty predictable plot inspired by the amitabh thriller parwana. Though predictable still mananged to keep everyones attention watching it :-). I have to admit though it was a well made movie, all characters gave a good performance. A well planned plot that kept going wrong at each point. Keeps you thinking how will it all end, what will happen next. I would give it a 3 stars. Definitely worth the watch for the effort put in to make it a different movie. Makes it a good dvd watch.

Bhool Bhulaiya

Also this weeks bollywood shot was truly the new movie Bhool Bhulaiya starring Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan directed by Priyadarshan. I would give it 3 and half stars. I liked the movie. Had a good laugh and a scare both at the same time. The song "Hare Krishna Hare Ram" is my new favourite to boogie on. The palace in which most of the movie is shot in was pretty beautiful, wonder where in India it was from?. Akshay was funny. Paresh Rawal and the lady who played his wife stole the show though!. Vidya Balan was good but did overact in some scenes. Amisha patel was convincing. I think I liked Shiny Ahuja more in his other movies.

I also wanted to see "Laga Chunari me daag" but was discouraged by the bad reviews and my husband.

Sa re ga ma - Oct 13 2007

I managed to wake up early this weekend to catch the sa re ga ma finals my favorite tv program. It was a good show. I was sad that Raja my favorite did not win. Looks like the votes always goes to folks from assam and bengal like last year with debojit. Nevertheless all the singers were excellent this year. i was happy that they gave the girl winner poonam a car too. Looks like next week Sonu Nigam is going to join the show should be interesting.

My inspiration

Growing up in India and in a family hooked on to hindi movies. Be it my cousins from IIT who perfected their studies both in academics and bollywood masala, or my mom who always has her pulse on the bolly gossip. I too am totally hooked and crave my bollywood shot every once in a while. Be it my favourite hindi movies, or the tv music shows like sa re ga ma or the bolly aerobics dance classes I just joined, I am a total bollywood buff. My husband knows he can make my day when he offers to take me to the local hindi cinema here in the US. What would be more fun but to write about them in my blog.