skip to main |
skip to sidebar
It is the directorial debut of Zoya Akhtar, who is from the talented Akhtar Family. She shows her talent in the direction and script department but sadly chooses the same old story of strugglers in Mumbai changing their attitude after getting a break with some luck. The execution of some sequences is brilliant, but the cliché plot turns the movie into an old wine in a new bottle.
It opens with Konkona Sen Sharma, as a struggling actress, who is waiting for the promises made by a producer. Farhan Akhtar is introduced as another struggler, just out of an acting school and is a friend of Konkana’s neighbor who is a theater artist. These are the characters trying their luck in Mumbai and waiting for the lady luck to smile at them any fine morning. Luckily Farhaan gets a lead role and then he changes with his new bright days of life, forgetting the people who helped him in his old times.
The same theme was also there in Ram Gopal Verma’s “Naach”. But here the difference is that though the movie is all predictable and based on an old plot, still it is well directed and superbly acted by the entire star-cast. Had there been any surprise element in the story, it could have been a far better venture for all. The movie moves at a slow pace and could be trimmed to make it more crispier but all performances are of top notch and some particular scenes are superbly written and directed by Zoya Akhtar.
Konkona, as expected gives another fine & polished performance of her career, but the best shot once again comes from Farhan Akhtar, the actor. After the super success of “Rock On”, in “Luck By Chance” he proves himself as an established actor sharing the screen presence with veterans of the medium showing his cool confidence. He plays even the most complex scenes with an amazing ease and elegance. His change in style and walk after he becomes a star is superb. Isha Sharwani as Farhan’s heroine is cute and bubbly. She excels in the dramatic scenes with her onscreen mother and in the scene when she is in Farhan’s room at night.
Among the veterans both Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia have given one of their best performances and are highly enjoyable. Rishi specially is commendable as he cries and regrets being a producer in the industry running after stars of his son’s age for dates. Dimple as the diva of the past years and mother of Isha shows that she really was a diva in her own time. Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Kapoor and Ali give the right comic support to the ensemble.
There is a huge line up in the special appearance department, which includes, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Akshay Khanna, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Manish Malhotra, Anurag Kashyap, Karan Johar and Shahrukh Khan. Among these Hrithik has a small role in which he shows why he is one of the respected and dependable star in the industry.
Hrithik has given two great scenes in the movie, one while he is talking to Karan Johar in a party and the second when he plays with the street kids while being inside his car at a road block. This particular scene with the street kids was the most impressing one from the director Zoya Akhtar and I rate this scene among the best ones I have seen in the recent times.
The next worth watching cameo comes from the King Khan, Shahrukh. In the few lines he speaks, he explains the life of a superstar and what one should not forget after reaching great heights of success. In this 3 minute scene, Shahrukh says it all and you are made to realize that this person truly deserves the position he is in at the present.
Another merit of the movie is its dialogues by Javed Akhtar. He manages to explain the emotions of the characters without using any complex or tough words which make it more hard hitting. Cinematography captures the mood and ambience of the studio sets beautifully. The behind the scenes sequences of junior artists, spot boys and assistants are quite revealing and captured intelligently.
But the music of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy was below the mark. The trio sometimes comes up with such an outstanding score and at times surprisingly gives a very mediocre one like in this movie. Only one song “Sapno Se Bhare Naina” is upto the standards set by themselves.
Now coming to the most difficult part of my review, where I have to write that in spite of being a brilliant and impressive directorial venture, the movie becomes the victim of having an old repeated storyline. The viewer exactly knows what the story would be from the first scene itself and that takes away all the charm. We have seen the same plot many times before when one of the struggler becomes a star and his attitude towards life changes. It was there in RGV’s “Rangeela” too but he had added an entertaining touch of comedy to it.
Here in “Luck By Chance” the main drawback is that the movie definitely is capable of impressing the critics but it fails to touch the right chord with the main viewers. There is no relief element in the screenplay and things keep on moving in a very classy way. Even the humor goes over the head at times. Like the scene when Mac Mohan comes to distribute certificates to the Acting School students. He is asked to say his dialogues from “Sholay”. Now he says “50 Hazaar” which was his only dialogue in the movie and remains one of the hidden surprises of “Sholay”(and many may not have realized it). Now the humor in the scene will only appeal to the people related to cinema and its craft but for others it may be tough to understand.
I was also surprised to see the scenes where Farhaan was making fun of the Theater and Theater Actors in the movie. Even if you don’t love theater, there are people who love it more than cinema and as a respect towards them and their art this should have been strictly avoided by the director.
So, if you see it from the eyes of a person coming to the theater for some relief and enjoyment, the overall impact of the movie is neither emotional nor entertaining. In the end I have to write that “Luck By Chance” is like seeing some well directed and well acted scenes put together without a touchy soul.
In other words the myth that movies based on movie making don’t work is true again. It deserves critical acclaim but may find hard to get a wider audience and acceptance.
Rating : 3 / 5
Harman Baweja and his “Victory” is the best example in the current times which proves that a God Gifted Golden spoon does not always guarantee you success in life. You have to earn it with your hard work and by making right decisions at the right time.
Harman Baweja, no doubt is a hard worker, a fine dancer and an actor in making but he is a victim of wrong choices made in the important initial years of his career since he chose two great disasters to start with. “Love Story 2050” was the first mistake made by him, which still gave him some appreciation for his work, but “Victory” is a more bigger blunder chosen by Harman which may result into serious problems for his future works.
The movie starts off with the echoes of “Chakk De India” and then gives us a view of the life lead by an overnight star in cricket. It tries to explain how money, power and fame can adversely affect the talent in a person. The movie has a message to give that you may get success due to luck or talent but maintaining that success needs even better talent and intelligence.
Sadly, this is the only good point about the movie as rest has nothing great to review. All the characters have acted as just another movie they have signed and the direction is too simple to extract anything special from any one. The main USP of the movie was the real Cricketers acting in it. But that only becomes the weakest point of the movie as all the Real Life Heroes are treated as junior artists and are not given the required attention and importance in their respective scenes.
Even the promos were unable to impress and bring all the cricket fans into the cinema halls. Till date except “Lagaan” & to some extent “Iqbal”, all other movies based on cricket have failed to hit the bull’s eye and same is the case with “Victory”. You still need a “Aamir” or “Shahrukh” to make a hit sports movies in India. Imagine the fate of “Lagaan” minus Aamir and “Chakk De India” without Shahrukh.
So I would not like to go in details for reviewing this movie as it has nothing to offer in any department and is big let-down for all associated with it. This movie once again shows that to be a star-son or industry-born person is not always enough to make it big. The right choice of script and subject is the real backbone of success for any artist here. It happened with Sanjay Dutt when his “Rocky” and other initial attempts were not accepted. But he bounced back in his later years with huge critically acclaimed and hit movies. I hope “Harman” also hits back with new spirits and surprises very soon. My best wishes for him…
Rating : 1 / 5
Horror Genre in Hindi Cinema has improved and impressed in the last few years and we have now entered a new phase leaving behind the pioneer makers of horror movies in India, The Ramsay Brothers. Mohit Suri, the director of “Kalyug”, now comes up with his “Raaz - The Mystery Continues” and tries his skill in a different subject than his earlier movies. Though his direction is competent but the movie is not as convincing as his earlier ones.
First of all you cannot categorize “Raaz” as a horror movie, because it does not scare you enough. On the other hand it is a suspense thriller with a secret to unfold towards the climax. Though there are some spooky scenes with a story of a spirit taking its revenge, but you don’t feel scared or haunted while watching the movie. In fact the suspense and secret is quite entertaining but its not spine chilling which makes you sit straight with your jaws open. So it was not right on the part of its producers to promote it as a solid horror movie.
The story is about a girl (Kangna) who gets possessed by a spirit who wants to take revenge from his killers. Adhyaman is her boyfriend who does not believe in the supernatural and is also involved in the crimes done in the past. Emraan Hashmi is a painter who gets glimpses of the future sequences which are going to happen with Kangna, so he wants to help her out of it. Emraan is also related to the spirit and the revenge but is ignorant about it.
The movie starts at a very slow speed with all unwanted scenes related to the love affair between Kangna and Adhyaman. And it only catches up as Emraan and the supernatural theme is introduced. Story wise its not a novel theme but is handled well by Mohit in his first attempt in the Suspense/Horror Genre.
If you are not a fan of English & World Cinema then you may find many sequences worth watching and entertaining. But those cinema lovers who have got their dose of Asian Horror movies (Thai/Japanese) would find it all cliché and not good enough. Screenplay is tightly written towards the end but is quite weak at the start. Cinematography is fine with some good effects too.
In the acting department Kangna gets most of the marks once again after “Fashion”. She again is featured here as a ramp model but she is top rate as a scared girl. Her scene where she abuses the spiritualist/politician sitting in the first row of a fashion show is the best scene of the movie. You will be surprised to hear the language used in that scene impressively as it will shake you well on your seats. Adhyaman Suman is just ok with not so impactful with his dialogues and dances. He does a much better job towards the end as the villain.
Emraan Hashmi once again proves that he is quite capable of carrying a solo hero movie and can also bring in the crowds on the first day itself. The opening of this movie strengthens his creditability with the producers to more higher levels. He impresses throughout the movie more with his eyes and expressions. The movie is sure going to add more numbers to his fan following with his stylish new look. It was refreshing to see Jackie Shroff in a special appearance and he acted fine. Musically, “Mahi” song is already a Hit and the other tracks are also soothing to the ear while watching the movie.
One point which goes in favour of the movie is the depth with which “Mohit” uses the Couplet of Kabir “Bura Jo Dekhan Main Chala”. The reference to these lines beautifully explains the trauma faced by Kangna in the end scene.
But the main point which works against the movie is that it is not a solid Horror movie as publicized by the producers. It is more like a Hitchcock suspense thriller with great sound effects and shocking secrets. There are certain unanswered question too in the movie, like there is no explanation given to the scene where Kangna insults the Politician in her fashion show (Why she did that?). If the script and narration was written more towards the horror factor, and more scary scenes then this could have been a big crowd puller. But for now it is just an Ok, time pass movie, which can be watched if you have nothing else to do for a few hours.
Lastly as per the tradition of Vishesh Films, “Raaz” is also an inspired movie with inspirations coming from more than one movie. The horror scenes (bathtub scene & the Well in the end) are inspired from “The Ring”. The hidden roof floor in the house inspired from “The Grudge”. The future prediction plot inspired from “The Final Destination” Series Movies. And the main secret of the movie which is told in the climax is inspired from Julia Roberts “Erin Brockovich” where she is also investigating about the water of an area getting contaminated due to the Energy & Gas plant running nearby. Sounds Familiar….
Rating : 2 / 5
The first thought which came to my mind after watching this latest offering from Akshay Kumar was that there exists a very thin and almost invisible line between Confidence and Over-Confidence. And CC2C is a clear example of a costly venture going down the path due to the overconfidence of its actors, director and the producers. In few words it’s the most torturing waste of time after “Drona”.
Fans of Shahrukh and Aamir can have a celebrating time this week as Akshay has committed a shattering mistake in the most crucial time of his career. This movie could have taken Akshay ahead of all in the race but instead it may act as a hindrance for all his progressive steps towards more name and fame. In other words, in 2008 it was Tashan and in 2009 it is Chandni Chowk To China. As I feel it will be a huge disappointment for all Akshay fans in this new year.
The movie has nothing to offer in any department, be it story, direction, music, locales and even acting. The only thing impressive is its production scale, but nobody is interested in seeing only a huge decorative structure without any content. Only 30 minutes in the movie and you know it that there has been a mistake somewhere. The movie starts very lazily and even Akshay’s introduction scene is not that impressive. You just don’t get along with the narration as it has no power to pull you in.
The story is about a cook in Chandni Chowk (Akshay) who is mistaken as a reincarnation of a Chinese Warrior. So he is taken to China to fight the villain there with the help of a cunning future teller (Ranvir Shorey). Along with this, another plot is about two (twin) sisters (Deepika Padukone in double role). One of the sisters is an Indian TV Artist and other is the associate of the villain in China. All these characters meet up in China and fight against the evil there. What may sound as an interesting story idea is totally ruined on the screen in its execution. Whatever you might be expecting from the movie looking at its promos is simply not there.
First of all in a movie with a title “Chandni Chowk To China” there is neither Chandni Chowk and nor the real China. You are only shown the “The Great Wall Of China” as China and the major fights scenes are filmed around that. The feel of the Chinese Cities and markets is not there. The expected local streets and Paranthe Wali Gali of Chandni Chowk is also missing, though it was highly publicized as the original home of Akshay Kumar.
If you are taking it as a comedy then there are only few scenes to count which are equivalent to the comedy level of Akshay. If you are looking for great action, then there are many completely senseless action sequences with no impression to make. The art of Kung Fu and Karate are taken for a ride in the movie in a very strange manner which was really not expected from Akshay as he also knows the art himself. The action director very unintelligently shows The Great Wall Of China being damaged in the fight sequence graphically. Apart from these flaws, a potato has been featured in the movie with a Ganesha like impression on it. And this potato travels from Chandni Chowk to China with Akshay and even after many months does not change its appearance. What a great thought that was from the director. Also there are some silly TV commercials and childish gadgets shown in the movie wasting all the footage for no purpose at all.
Akshay is there in the movie trying to do a little bit of everything, but from the first scene itself he seems to be overconfident of his act. In order to do all, he fails to impress his viewers this time and is a big let- down. Deepika also fails to impress and only provides her pretty looks to the movie. Same is the case with Ranvir Shorey as he is completely wasted. A great miscast is there in the form of Mithun Chakraborty. I couldn’t understand what he was doing in the movie in such an underwritten role. All the Chinese characters in the movie were hamming more and acting less. Musically, only one song from Kailash Kher is the better one among all.
Interestingly the film catches up towards its end with some interesting moments when Akshay starts learning the Martial Art. But till then all the major damage has already been done and those few moments are not capable of saving this big Titanic from sinking. It can be said that after the success of “Singh Is Kinng”, which was also not a polished product itself, we expected a better one from Akshay. But to my shock he comes with a movie which is even more mediocre product than “Singh Is Kinng’.
I fail to understand how on earth such an intelligent team and association could go wrong to this extent to come up with a product like CC2C. Summing up, I would say that the first big crash of 2009 has arrived and I am really thinking about what “Warner Brothers” will have in mind after this.
Rating : 1 / 5
It’s the most appreciated movie in the last few months (2008), winning several awards at various film festivals all over the globe. So I was excited enough to the see it, expecting another movie which will be added in my “Movies to See Before You Die” list. No doubt it is one of the best movies of recent times but sadly I didn’t find it worth adding my “Must See Movies” List and I will surely give you my reasons for that here in the end.
Firstly talking about the movie, an interesting observation is that if the viewer is not told about who directed this flick, then, he is bound to take it as a movie made by an Indian or a person with an Indian origin. But surprisingly it is directed by “Danny Boyle” of ‘Trainspotting’ and '28 Days Later’ fame. Though he has done a brilliant job but in my opinion he selected this subject and directed this movie keeping in mind the festival circuit and attention he would get because of the Indian touch and feel of the movie. You might get my point more clearly after watching it and reading my points at the end of this review.
The story of this movie is about a young teenage boy winning millions at a TV Show (KBC of Indian Television) and how each question asked by the anchor has a relation to his past life. He knows most of the answers as all the questions have something similar to the circumstances of his real life. So the anchor at one point of time doubts that he may be cheating in the show. In order to investigate his loyalty, he is handed over to the police for one night, but nothing is found against him and he is allowed to play the game, the next final day.
Each question put to him in the game show has a sequence attached to it in the screenplay which is well written and enjoyable. The growth of the children from a small age to their teenage youth is well executed. But the thrill which should have been there regarding the game is missing. May be it’s because from the title itself you already know that the contestant is going to win. Moreover, the narration of the movie is more towards an artistic offbeat film (like that of “Salaam Bombay”), which reduces its chances of becoming a big hit in the Indian circuit (But may do well in multiplexes).
Performances wise everybody does a fine job especially Dev Patel and all the child artists featuring in the movie. Their expressions and dialogue delivery has been directed perfectly and they never seem to be acting. Anil Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Saurabh Shukla & Mahesh Manjrekar are just fine doing their parts with nothing extra-ordinary to talk about. But they are lucky enough to get this project which has become world famous by now. One thing i couldnt understand was that why Anil Kapoor did not want the slum boy to win in his show and why he tried to give him the wrong answer. Camerwork showing the slums and riots is brilliant. Infact the opening scene is the most well shot sequence with all the kids running followed by the policemen.
Musically, there are no full length songs in the movie and the soundtrack alone is more enjoyable separately. The best song is “Jai Ho” which was shockingly refused by Subhash Ghai for his movie “Yuvraaj”. The background music is superb giving an ample support to the direction. A. R. Rahman gives another good score in this International project and has already won praises and awards, making his presence felt in the International Film & Music Circles. We are really proud to have him as a National Treasure.
Now coming to the points why this movie could not impress me as expected and why it is not being added to my “Movies to See Before You Die” List.
1. A few decades back (in sixties to eighties), there was an “Art Movies” wave going on in our Indian Movie world when film-makers were making movies based on Indian Culture, mainly portraying the poverty and backward side of India. They were showing the poor and exploited farmers, their extreme conditions, beggars, starving children, famines and droughts and depicting India as a suffering country. To some extent it was true then, and due to this realistic cinema and so called artistic creations, most of those film-makers got recognition all over the world.
Without pointing names, I would also like to add that these were the movies which were more or less responsible of giving India, its “Poor Country of Beggars, Farmers & Snake Charmers” image to the world.
A similar kind of attempt was made by Mira Nair in “Salaam Bombay” in 1988, showing the red light area, poverty and slums of Bombay in her movie and getting international recognition thereafter.
Here in “Slumdog Millionaire”, I see the same intentions again by the director Danny Boyle, showing the dirty slums, poor living conditions, begging mafia, tortured kids, poverty, riots and racial tension in the current Mumbai, giving it again a picture of a backward city with only the illegal slums spread all over. I doubt this was done intentionally to grab international attention, because if you see the movie, you will feel that the same impact could have been given without showing the Mumbai City in a bad form.
2. In support of my above point, another plot added with purpose in the movie is “The Taj-Mahal Sequence”. This again seems to be deliberately added in the screenplay to show the famous “Wonder of The World” in the movie and have more festival feel to the project. In fact as you will see the movie, you would feel that the “Taj-Sequence” has no contribution to make in the script and could have been easily avoided. But since the director wanted to show “The Real India” so “The Taj” has to be there in the movie, otherwise it would have been incomplete.
3. Other strong objection or disagreement I have is with the title of the movie, “Slumdog Millionaire”, calling all the people living in the Slums as Dogs. This kind of expression is not an artistic liberty in my opinion. The hero of the movie is from the slums, working as a “Chai-Wala” in a call center, but can speak good English. Interestingly, the director chooses to call his hero, “A Dog from the Slums who becomes Millionaire” aka “Slumdog Millionaire”. The moment I got the real meaning of the title after watching the movie, it was a let-down for me. I am sure this title would not have been used if the movie was about the poor Black people living in the slums in the West. But for the Indians you can call them “Dogs”. Not acceptable…..
Infact, in the opening scene of the Game Show, when the teenage boy introduces himself as a “Chai-Wala”, then the host of the show, Anil Kapoor, makes fun of him and his work. This was simply not a good piece of writing and direction as no Host in reality could have done it in his show with his contestant.
4. Regarding the riots scenes in the movie, I am not in favour of using any minor actors/children in a scene showing racial tension and racial killings. I hope the directors know their social responsibilities while shooting such sequences with children and young teenagers. Since a well directed scene of riots can leave any good or bad kind of effect on the psyche of the child, so I think this is rather important point to think for all the people related to film-making.
5. I also found some weird scenes in the movie, which are disgusting as hell. Director Danny Boyle surely has some liking with the toilet, flushes and waste material. I remember a scene in his “Trainspotting” where a character puts his face in the commode full of waste and then his whole body flows into it. A similar kind of scene is here when the child is in an open toilet just covered from the sides and open from below. Suddenly he hears that Amitabh Bachhan’s helicopter has landed there for a shoot. Now his door is locked from outside and he cannot move out of the toilet to meet his favourite star. In order to grab this golden opportunity the child decides to jump from the hole below into the waste material. He then moves out of the dirty pool (as if a swim-suit girl is coming out of the pool), covered with waste all over his body and goes on to take the autograph of his hero.
Now what is the use or significance of this scene in the movie, it was completely out of my understanding. Giving artistic touches to a movie is a different thing but you don’t have to be disgusting for that. In “Trainspotting”, the justification can be that the scene and characters were related to drug addiction and its impact, but here I was unable to see any justification of this scene in the movie.
6. There are many other flaws also in the widely appreciated script. Like I don’t know where in India we teach the Classic “The 3 Musketeers” to 4-6 years slum kids and what is the explanation for the excellent English accent of the lead character Jamaal.
So in a nutshell, no doubt it’s a well directed and tightly scripted movie appreciated world-wide by all and it may be one of the better movies of 2008 but I couldn’t appreciate the treatment given to Mumbai city and the kind of INDIA shown in the movie, only to grab an international attention. It’s time now for the World to form a much better image of INDIA and other Asian countries fast moving towards development.
For me its not a masterpiece as it is being projected and with respect to all the awards it has won, I cannot add “Slumdog Millionaire” to my “Movie To See Before You Die” List.
Rating : 3 / 5
