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One simple question to start with……In the current scenario, are we always supposed to see a Bollywood Comedy leaving our thinking brains at home?......Really fed up with this phrase often used to praise mindless comedies, I was completely taken back by the treatment given by Priyadarshan to his latest script-less movie called “De Dana Dan”. Once again taking his inspirations from the English flicks, “Blame It on The Bellboy” (1992) and “The Towering Inferno” (1974), the director delivers a completely over the top and loud movie which miserably fails to impress the viewers in any of its department.
With more than 20 characters in the script, played by all well known actors of the Industry, the project has too many things to deal with on its platter. It really remains a questionable decision that even after the presence of the famous “Hera Pheri” comic trio, what was the need of roping in almost everyone related to comedy genre in the industry ranging from the veterans Asrani & Shakti Kapoor to the currently famous Johny Lever & Rajpal Yadav. Priyadarshan may have successfully dealt with them all in few of his previous projects but this time he simply slips disastrously.
Storyline has never been the major highlight of a Priyadarshan project. But in “De Dana Dan”, he very daringly treats the story requirement of a movie in the most careless manner. Starting with few good scenes moving around a Kidnapping plot, the movie starts going into various opposite directions with a desperate plea to make you laugh. Post interval it looks like the director and the whole unit somehow lost their original script in the transit and just went on with the shooting as per their outdoor schedule.
After an hour the movie has nothing related to a story and it just has all its characters confusingly following each other with mistaken identities. Collectively living in the same five star hotel, everyone keeps barging into unknown rooms trying to create some hilarious scenes for the viewers. And the most surprising part is that post intermission the biggest star of the movie, Akshay Kumar simply vanishes from the screen for more than half an hour. According to the proceedings he gets locked in a closet and remains there for a good amount of time. But what was the use of locking your most sellable star like that. Anyone else could have been easily locked with a little change in the one page script.
"De Dana Dan” has loads of absurdities in its narration, which fail to convince even if you take them as a part of a brainless comedy flick. For instance, a full grown man (Akshay Kumar) has been kidnapped but the whole Indian community (in Singapore) and the entire media is searching for a kid instead, because that is the only photograph available of the kidnapped person. In the climax the top floor water reservoir of a more than 30 story hotel gets exploded due to a bomb. And that shockingly brings a major flood like situation in the entire multistory building with everything floating in the heavy water flow. In fact the silly watery sequence hilariously resembled the one recently seen in “Tum Mile”.
Performance wise this is a perfect example of a film with the most numbers of stars, where not even one makes his presence felt in the end. For the first time ever, I found Paresh Rawal, hamming with his intentional Punjabi accent. The viewers are sure going to miss the cult Paresh Rawal act of his previous hit comedies. Akshay Kumar is not entirely there in the movie. He starts off with some good scenes with Archna Puran Singh, but later gets lost in the overcrowded star-cast. Not using him as per his much applauded comic timing is entirely the fault of his director. Suniel Shetty does his act with an unconcerned ease and he seems to be included only to complete the famous comedy trio.
Both Katrina Kaif & Sameera Reddy can count their major scenes on one hand. They only contribute in the film as its female lead and nothing else. In comparison, Neha Dhupia makes a better impact in her few moments on the screen. Archana Puran Singh shouts more and acts less. Aditi Gowariker once again proves that she is better model. Shakti Kapoor repeats his sex maniac act. Asrani, Tinnu Anand & Manoj Joshi are routine, but Chunkey Pandey, Rajpal Yadav and Johny Lever are simply wasted in their unimportant roles. Sharat Saxena & Vikram Ghokhle are miscast as they simply do not belong to the comedy genre.
Pritam’s music is not outstanding as expected. But the RDB track “Paisa Paisa” is a major hit which also has its own history in the Punjabi Music Industry. The track was the opening song of the Debut Album of Manak-E released few years back, which had music by RDB and was also promoted well with a music video on the leading Punjabi channels. It was indeed quite thoughtful of both RDB and Akshay to use the song with the same singer in the promotional campaign of the movie. However as usual, all the songs are inserted in the script without any specific need. Background score by Salim-Suleman is energetic and Cinematography is fine as per the requirement of the subject but the film tends to go over length due to its bizarre climax.
On the whole, it’s just another instance of better promotion and poor content. Few weeks before, I could understand the success of “Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani” (though I personally rated it quite low) as it had a worth praising act by Ranbir Kapoor, good songs and some hilarious scenes with mass appeal, but if “De Dana Dan” goes on to become a big Hit then I really fear what kind of projects we are going to get in the near future.
And lastly one sincere request for the director, who gave us the cult “Hera Pheri”……..Please take a break and re-invent yourself on priority basis…!
Rating : 1.5 / 5
(Originally Posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)
Dharma Productions, known for its well planned movies and remarkable success ratio returns to the screen with a strong thriller supported by a fiery star-cast and an eye catching promotional campaign. The controversial posters in the news and the secrecy regarding its story plot surely helped in creating a buzz for the movie before its release. So everybody was forced to expect yet another well made movie from Karan Johar’s production house with a unique kind of storyline never told before on the screen.
But the final outcome has got a completely different story to tell which also raises many questions on the cut-throat competition between various big banners of the industry. Undeniably, “Kurbaan” is a well crafted thriller with its brilliant direction and visibly grand production values. It has its own worth seeing moments along with some superb thought provoking sequences relevant to the current scenario in the western countries. But the real shocking revelation lies in its story plot which is strikingly similar to “New York”.
In fact it’s like Kabir Khan and Karan Johar got hold of a similar idea and then wrote two different scripts with minor changes as per their own film-making styles.
In order to prove my point, here are the similarities between the two movies, which unfortunately would also reveal the storyline of “Kurbaan”.
1. “New York” has got two college students (John & Katrina) falling in love with each other and later living a happily married life abroad. Here John plays a muslim character who is secretly working for the pride of his religion and planning a big disaster in the city.
In “Kurbaan” instead of students there are two professors (Saif & Kareena) in the college, who fall in love with each other, get married and settle abroad to live a happy life together. Here Saif plays the muslim character who is a wanted terrorist in disguise and also planning for a big disaster in the city.
2. In both the movies the lady of the house (Katrina & Kareena) doesn’t know about the real identity of her husband which is later discovered by her as a shock of her life.
3. “New York” has Neil Nitin Mukesh working on a secret mission, who enters John’s gang with a different identity and tries to catch him before the big disaster planned with the help of FBI.
In “Kurbaan” there is Vivek Oberoi who after losing her love in a bomb blast plans to enter Saif’s gang with a different identity aiming to get him behind the bars with the help of FBI.
4. “New York” has Irfan Khan playing the role of an FBI officer helping Neil, whereas in “New York” the role is not that significant played by a foreign actor who is constantly talking with Vivek on phone in the climax.
5. In both the films, the new entrant in the gang is given a test to pass where he is asked to shoot an unknown man just like that without any reason.
6. Both the movies have a similar sequence where an associate gang member from the extremists group panics when few policemen start searching his car and ask him to get out. In both the scenes the man loses his life due to the unexpected emotional reaction.
7. In “New York” John suspects Neil talking with someone on the phone and then takes away his phone saying that no-one will use any phone from now on.
In “Kurbaan” Om Puri suspects Vivek talking with somebody on phone and then takes away his phone again saying that no-one will use any phone from now on.
8. Both the movies gradually move towards a big disaster planned by the terrorist in the end which also results in their leader getting killed by the police. Both John & Saif meet similar fates towards the climax in strikingly similar circumstances.
In short, if you have seen “New York” then you have already seen “Kurbaan” in a different version. However both the movies hold their own distinctive merits due to their respective talented directors. “New York” was more definitive and expressive in its characterisation, romance and songs. On the other hand “Kurbaan” is more intense, exciting and well executed as a fine thriller with some creditable performances by all the three leading characters.
Saif once again delivers a polished and calm performance as the terrorist. Kareena gives him tough competition with a superb portrayal of a helpless girl caught in the web of terrorism. Vivek also shines bright after a long gap in his important role of an informer cum reporter. Dia Mirza looks ravishing in her few scenes. Om Puri is top rate as usual but the most impressive supporting act comes from Kiron Kher in the role of an angry muslim lady ready to fight for her revenge.
Unexpectedly the musical score by Salim-Sulieman is not up to the standards of Karan Johar productions with no particular song standing out with its melody. But, Cinematography clearly gives the movie an international look from all angles. It also seems that the movie was specifically made for the overseas market and metro cities. Since, there is heavy use of English language in the movie, with one particular scene of a seminar having conversations going on in English for a good period of time.
Writing also has got too many flaws in it with things moving on very easily without any complications. For instance, two mature professors go on flirting with each other freely in the staff room and class rooms within the college campus (which was like the creative liberty taken for a ride). Saif easily gets Visas for abroad without any hassles and he even gets a professor’s job in the foreign university just like that. Kareena takes out the bullet out of Saif’s wound in few seconds and even applies stitches to it like a pro. There are shoot outs going on and people moving fearlessly holding a gun in the tube train with no trace of any policemen around. Even the hot bed room scene between Saif and Kareena looks like deliberately added later on and also seems to be edited in a great hurry. It lacks the warmth as one recalls in the similar scenes from “Parinda” and “Dayavan”. Hence at some places the execution goes too filmy, far below the expectations from a Dharma Productions movie.
But, what impressed me the most were the well written, explosive dialogues in the script which may be taken as offensive by many. They surely had the truth spoken in the most blunt way ever on the Indian Silver Screen. In short, director Rensil D’Silva undoubtedly proves his command over the medium with his noticeable directorial debut. But I am still confused why they made a movie on the same storyline of “New York”. With a different story plot it surely could have been the finest thriller of the recent times.
Rating : 2.5 / 5
(Originally Posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)
When you are going to see a movie which has already impressed you with its outstanding trailer, then it’s obvious to expect something great and out of the ordinary. That was the state I was in while entering the theater to watch 2012. Excitingly waiting for the movie to start, I had many questions in mind about how the director will tackle the various ongoing problems of the world while showcasing the Ultimate End of our civilization? And majorly what will be his take on the famous religions of the world when the characters will be talking about their Final Moments?
And to my surprise the movie took off from our part of the world in 1999, where an Indian Geologist religiously named Dr. Satnam, discovers that the Earth is heating up to an extent that is causing a shift in its tectonic plates. He passes on the news of this deadly discovery to his American friend Dr. Adria, who straight away takes it to the White House as an emergency situation. Coming back to the future in 2012, the movie plunges into the amazing graphical world where the earth is sinking due to the high density earthquakes and all the historical monuments are falling left and right like lifeless toys.
Visually it’s a fabulous portrayal of the End of the World from the director “Roland Emmerich” who is known for his mesmerizing work in his earlier movies such as “Independence Day”, “The Day After Tomorrow” and “Godzilla”. The moment you witness the first shattering sequence of the earth making a huge wide gap and everything falling into it, you get transported into a gripping enigmatic world altogether. The spectacular special effects unfolding every 15 minutes in the movie, just keep you glued to the screen with your jaws wide open. The disastrous happenings worldwide, the enormous water tides coming over, the burning volcanic eruptions and ugly tsunamis spreading over the world map just bring on the viewer to the edge of his seat.
Hence, if you are in for some great Computer Graphics and want to see a few terrific nail biting scenes where the heroes are just climbing up before the earth sinks in, then this is the perfect choice to spend your valuable time.
But if you are expecting a great movie, rich on emotional and futuristic content as suggested by the impressive body of work by its director, then you may remain quite unsatisfied at the end. In simple words, 2012, undoubtedly scores high on technical and graphical terms but content wise it falls short of the earlier disaster movies from the director. It lacks the emotional depth in its characterization due to which the viewer is not able to relate with any of the characters fighting with the unwanted situation. In order to cover more number of people on the screen, the script fails to develop any one character in particular, which as a result leaves a very cold kind of impact on the viewer. The movie also tends to become a bit slow at times but bounces back with every new destruction sequence on the screen.
The entire cast delivers fine performances as required by the subject, but they are also handicapped by the poor characterization in the script. John Cusack is pleasant to see but has nothing great written for him in particular. Amanda Peet is just there to give her constant looks of amazement. Danny Glover as the president, Thandie Newton as his daughter, Oliver Platt as the president's chief of staff and Jimi Mistry as Dr. Satnam simply play their parts as directed. Only Chiwetel Ejiofor looks like more concerned about the humanity factor in the movie and makes an impact.
2012 also tends to be repetitive in few sequences which strongly give you a feeling of “seen before”. The movie even reminded me one of the early 80’s disaster movies called “Earthquake”. In fact this time, Emmerich also seems to be inspired by his own masterpieces from the past. He surely surpasses them all in terms of mass destruction of the globe, but talking about the rich emotional quotient of those Hit movies, 2012 comparatively scores quite low. Emmerich, intentionally skips many important questions related to various countries and religions practiced by different people residing all over the globe.
The main drawback of the movie is that even though it revolves around the concept of end of the world and its civilization, still it is unable to frighten you with the scary thought. The movie keeps on impressing you with its exceptional execution constantly but at the same time, fails to take you in on emotional grounds. In a nutshell, it’s a film very rich in the Cinematography and Computer Graphics department, but is also quite unimpressive in its content.
Interestingly the movie ends with a clear message to the World and its entire population. It simply says that “Now is the time that we all have to unite together at the earliest or else the nature will unite us deliberately in its own destructive way.”
Rating : 3 / 5(Originally Posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)
Vishesh Films, Kunal Deshmukh & Emraan Hashmi trio is back with another romantic movie written around a plot based on real life. After his successful directorial debut in “Jannat”, this time Kunal tries his hands on a (so called) disaster movie depicting the unforgettable trauma faced by Mumbai on 26th July, 2005. The tough days which are still fresh in the mind of every Mumbaikar, saw Mumbai in a very unimaginable state with a flood like situation leading to huge physical and monetary losses everywhere in the city.
So obviously there were enormous expectations from the movie, coming from a director, who already had a well made realistic movie to his credit. Moreover, “Tum Mile” was also being projected as the first major attempt in the genre of “Disaster Movies” in Hindi Film Industry though its promotional campaign, TV Promos and Posters. But after watching it, you actually feel like cheated by its promoters because the film which was heavily advertised with the scenes depicting the Mumbai Floods, actually has only a few minutes talking about the disaster and too not in a very convincing way.
It starts nicely with a well written in-flight sequence, where both Emraan & Soha get to meet each other after many years and remember the good times spent together in flashbacks. The movie moves ahead following the same pattern of “Jannat” wherein first the romance is established between the lead couple and then the real plot is revealed after a few romantic numbers. But in “Tim Mile”, Kunal stresses too much on the romance part and pays very less attention on the disaster element which actually should have been given the center stage. Till intermission the narration keeps moving into the past and present lives of the couple and along with that also tries to establish the base for the Flood sequences. But the excessive emphasis on the romance part fails to create the required curiosity level, which is a must for a disaster movie. The strong build-up leading towards the watery climax is simply missing.
Post interval, the viewer becomes desperate of watching the flood stuff and really wants to see how it is done in a Hindi movie, but he still has to wait till the end. The main over publicized rain scenes actually come only towards the climax and those too finish off too soon without making an impact with no worth seeing graphical creations as expected. In addition to this there is no account of any mass human suffering, pain or loss faced by the people due to that unexpected natural calamity. Though the flood sequences has been shot competitively in a street set which must have been a tough task for the whole team, but in the end it is too plain to make you feel for it.
Otherwise, the movie has a good romantic story going on with a few good scenes and dialogues coming at regular intervals. Both Emraan & Soha have given good performances as required by an intense love story. They emote and relate well on screen. But Emraan now has to move on to some completely different roles in his career. He looks like doing the different & improvised versions of his own lover boy characters from his previous movies. Soha on the other hand gives a mature performance as a true lover caught between the choice of her career and love. Mantra, as Emraan’s friend makes a good impact throughout and Sachin Khedekar is hardly there for only one scene.
Hence, it all comes down to the wrong promotion of the movie, where it doesn’t deliver what it promised. Also, the writing falters at many places which is clearly visible to the least interested viewer too. For instance, a person coming to check your Electronic Meter abroad in a pure Indian style, people moving out of a drowning bus leaving a small child alone, the child’s mother is also shown out of the bus crying for help. The script also majorly fails to use the flood sequences resulting into the re-union of the lovers. After one hour, anyone can guess that the story will now end in the floods where Emraan would save Soha and they will both fall in love again. And that’s where Kunal fails to make an impact this time. There is no surprise climax in “Tum Mile” which was incidentally one of the major attractions of his “Jannat”.
Musically, the soundtrack again has some good songs from the ever consistent Pritam. Though not as compelling and rich in lyrics, as his other recent hits, but still they sound good while watching the movie. However as usual, not all songs were needed in the script, which also needed crispier editing. Cinematography, Graphics and Art direction is fine, but nothing path breaking. In fact it is nowhere close to the other epic disaster movie “2012” which also releases this Friday. So, if you want to see a real disaster movie with breathtaking sequences and magical graphics on the screen then the choice should be clear after reading this.
Rating : 2 / 5 (Blame it on the misguiding promotional campaign)(Originally Posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)
