After the debacle of Mangal Pandey, Aamir returns with RDB. As does Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra after the "far ahead of its time" Aks.. and this one is a winner all the way..
A young Britsh woman, Sue, comes to India to document on video the heroism of our freedom fighters.. she strings up with a gang of college misfits - DJ (Aamir), Karan (Siddarth), Aslam, Sukhi and Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) in order to achieve this.. the guys are all easy going "we-dont-care" types just taking life as it comes and living for the moment.. just like the majority of today's youth.. but as they get involved with Sue's project, they slowly relaise that they need to do something for the country.. but the final push comes when Sonia's finacee dies in a Mig crash.. and the corrupt government blames him for the mishap..
The entire first half is fun, mainly showcasing the antics of the gang.. the second half is filled with purpose.. slowly igniting the light of patriotism into the characters and the viewers very effectively.. the entire movie is leisurely paced.. Mehra takes his time to unfold the story and to drive home his point.. and he does a very good job of it..
Aamir shows that given a good story, he doesnt mind sharing the limelight.. all the main protogonists have weighty roles and they all deliver perfectly.. AR Rahman is brilliant in the BGM and with the songs which play behind the movie.. cinematography is also very good.. overall, its a slow movie.. but very well delivered.. I am not sure if the message it gets across will be implemented.. but I am sure it will get some people thinking..
Please note that my comprehension of Hindi is limited.. if I was following the dialoges 100%, I would have enjoyed the movie evn more..
Score : 75 - dont miss
Friday, February 03, 2006
Zinda - Alive!!
Sanjay Gupta is back with his next offering starring Sanjay Dutt.. and this time its supposed to be a direct lift from a Korean movie.. but since I have not seen the movie in question.. I must say that I really enjoyed the movie..
The story is quite interesting.. Dutt plays a software engineer.. who seems to have all that he wants in his life.. a great job.. lots of money.. a beautiful wife.. expecting a daughter.. and a great childhood friend.. suddenly, one fine day.. out of the blue, he is kidnapped and locked away for 14 years.. his only contact to the outside world being the food he gets and the TV in his room.. which shows him how he himself is suspected of murdering his wife and other inportant world events...
Dutt dedicates his life to revenge.. biding his time and waiting for his chance for revenge.. the chance comes when he is released suddenly one day.. and the hunt begins.. he is helped in his cause by Lara Dutta, who plays a cab driver who can speak Hindi and the local language.. she may or may not have been planted by his rivals..
finally, he realises that the man behind his imprisonment is John Abraham, who is now a high profile businessman.. and the fight begins.. there are lots of gruesome scenes. making this a movie fit for only the young guys.. but in all other technical aspects the movie excellently made..
The story runs along fairly well.. and I really liked the way it all came around 1 full circle in the end.. but the last couple of minutes spoil the whole effect.. they seem added on to satisfy the Indian audience..
Overall, worth watching.. if u like this kind of style movies..
Score : 71
The story is quite interesting.. Dutt plays a software engineer.. who seems to have all that he wants in his life.. a great job.. lots of money.. a beautiful wife.. expecting a daughter.. and a great childhood friend.. suddenly, one fine day.. out of the blue, he is kidnapped and locked away for 14 years.. his only contact to the outside world being the food he gets and the TV in his room.. which shows him how he himself is suspected of murdering his wife and other inportant world events...
Dutt dedicates his life to revenge.. biding his time and waiting for his chance for revenge.. the chance comes when he is released suddenly one day.. and the hunt begins.. he is helped in his cause by Lara Dutta, who plays a cab driver who can speak Hindi and the local language.. she may or may not have been planted by his rivals..
finally, he realises that the man behind his imprisonment is John Abraham, who is now a high profile businessman.. and the fight begins.. there are lots of gruesome scenes. making this a movie fit for only the young guys.. but in all other technical aspects the movie excellently made..
The story runs along fairly well.. and I really liked the way it all came around 1 full circle in the end.. but the last couple of minutes spoil the whole effect.. they seem added on to satisfy the Indian audience..
Overall, worth watching.. if u like this kind of style movies..
Score : 71
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Narnia : Fantasy Rocks!!
Quite inexplicably, "The Chronicles of Narnia" had an highly delayed release in India.. and since I wanted to see this one on the big screen I was able to watch it only this week.. but boy it was well worth the wait!!
The story is simple.. the World War forces parents to send their children to foster homes where they will be safe.. and so our main characters, the Pevensie siblings -Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter are sent away by their mother to the house of an old professor who doesn't seem to be much fun going by what his housekeeper says..
While playing Hide And Seek (aahhh.. those days!!), little lucy discovers a wardrobe which actually opens out into a new world called Narnia.. her siblings dont initially believe her.. but then they too finally enter the magic world!!
In Narnia, it turns out that a evil white witch has taken over the land and that according to prophecy she would be killed by 4 humans (the Pevensie's fit the profile!) with the help of Aslan, the great king.. This sets the stage for the engrossing movie!!
As expected, the great plus for this movie is the sheer novelty of the things we are seeing.. the graphics are excellent.. and the kids.. especially Lucy deliver great performances.. but for me personally the second half didnt quite match up to the wonderment feeling we have while viewing the first half..
For fantasy addicts, this is a "dont miss" movie!!
Score : 73
The story is simple.. the World War forces parents to send their children to foster homes where they will be safe.. and so our main characters, the Pevensie siblings -Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter are sent away by their mother to the house of an old professor who doesn't seem to be much fun going by what his housekeeper says..
While playing Hide And Seek (aahhh.. those days!!), little lucy discovers a wardrobe which actually opens out into a new world called Narnia.. her siblings dont initially believe her.. but then they too finally enter the magic world!!
In Narnia, it turns out that a evil white witch has taken over the land and that according to prophecy she would be killed by 4 humans (the Pevensie's fit the profile!) with the help of Aslan, the great king.. This sets the stage for the engrossing movie!!
As expected, the great plus for this movie is the sheer novelty of the things we are seeing.. the graphics are excellent.. and the kids.. especially Lucy deliver great performances.. but for me personally the second half didnt quite match up to the wonderment feeling we have while viewing the first half..
For fantasy addicts, this is a "dont miss" movie!!
Score : 73
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