Showing posts with label Saurabh Shukla. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saurabh Shukla. Show all posts

Friday, April 4, 2014

Main Tera Hero, Hindi Bollywood Film Movie Review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: * * *

Main Tera Hero, Hindi Bollywood Film Movie Review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: *  *  *
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Hindi film Review
Johnson Thomas     


Varun earns his stripes while Dad gets his groove back!

Film: Main Tera Hero
Casr: Varun Dhawan, Ileana D’Cruz, Nargis Fakhri, Anupam Kher, Saurabh Shukla, Rajpal Yadav, Arunoday Singh
Director: David Dhawan

Rating: *  *  * 
This film is typical of the Dhawanesque romedy- playful, odd, screwball comedy romance with several stand-up comic acts set in a script that defies logic and good sense. The only difference being that this film was made with a lot more love, affection and smarts than the recent duds that dot Dhawan’s oeuvre. The last few films from Dhawan were tedious and exasperating, leading me to believe that Dhawan may have lost his groove. But the manner in which he lays out the goodies here, (in this latest romedy), I must say, he has, at least in part, gotten back his groove.  And that’s also mainly because he has found his most efficient muse, his son, Varun Dhawan(two films old) who is packaged and presented as a three-in-one; Govinda, Salman Khan and Anil Kapoor. Varun’s physical fluidity and performance is basically a proficient display of antics performed by Dhawan’s fave trio in most of his comedy blockbusters. So in a way, David is reliving his successes and in turn paying effusive tribute to his faves, through his son’s amalgamated performance.
Don’t go looking for a story here. The plot is merely a set-up of missteps taken forward mindlessly but nevertheless, quite engagingly. Sreenath Prasad a.k.a Seenu(Varun Dhawan) is neither big in muscle nor short in stature. He is a super fit, nimble footed, flexi-tough young man who prefers to stand-out from the crowd. Trouble seeks him out frequently and he also seems to have rubbed his fellow students the wrong way. So for the umpteenth time he gets suspended. Following a discussion with his father(Manoj Pahwa), he decides to go off to Bangalore and continue his education there.  En route from Ooty, Conoor to Bangalore, he gets into a brawl and ends-up setting himself up against an enemy for the long run. In TTC college, Bangalore, He sets himself up against   a rogue policeman(Arunoday Singh) who throws his weight around and beats-up anyone likely to make gooey eyes at his(self proclaimed) gal Sunaina(Illeana).So turning the tables on the big guy, Seenu agrees to a challenge of winning the said girl’s affections in three days. Needless to say, the hero does it. So burly policeman is annoyed and reconnects with another set of goons to get Sunaina kidnapped. And that’s prime setting for another pretty gal , Ayesha(Nargis Fakhri) to enter the frame. What transpires thereafter is simply put, senseless mayhem. Not the violent kind- the goofy one!
This film is basically a sterling set-up of stand-up comic acts coming at you at a speedy pace. Tushar Hiranandani’s story and script burrowed liberally from the south side hit ‘Kandireega’ is full of plot holes, wild cross connections, bumpy connectivity and unacceptable developments. There’s humor in some dialogues but mainly it’s the actors and the fluency with which the director handles each scene, that sets up the laughs. It’s a fun ride mainly because Dhawan’s helming doesn’t allow you any time to think and get depressed(about the state of mainstream hindi cinema) and  Varun’s impersonation of his father’s three faves Salman, Govinda and Anil kapoor , is so fluid and engaging that you just have to sit back and go with the flow.

Ileana looks pretty but the elfin charm she showcased in ‘Barfi’ is not as effusive here. Nargis has the body to hot-up the sex quotient but her plasticine pout and sacrilegious diction becomes a put-off after a while. Saurabh Shukla is fantastic as usual. Manoj Pahwa gets a few laughs in without much effort while Anupam Kher and Rajpal Yadav do a whole lot of hamming. Arunoday Singh also makes his presence effective, as the burly villain/rogue cop. But this is a film meant to showcase Varun Dhawan’s talents and it does so with absolute single-mindedness. He dances, serenades, prances around, shows off his agility, flexibility, muscle power and expressiveness in over abundance. It’s an over-the-top flamboyant performance in a film that demands it. He may be just two films old but Varun has proved beyond doubt, that he is willing to give his all and more to get his father’s floundering career the much-needed fillup.  And in the process , has also managed to establish himself  as lead contender for the most promising young actor amongst the newer lot.

Johnsont307@gmail.com

Friday, February 14, 2014

Gunday, Hindi Bollywood film Movie review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: * *

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Hindi Film Review
Johnson Thomas
Film: Gunday

Film Review: Gunday: Brandishing an antiquated cinematic zeal!
Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Irrfan Khan
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar

Rating: *  *

Director Ali Abbas Zafar’s sort-of  tweaked reboot fashioned around  the YashRaj ‘Kaala Pathar’ brand is not as passionate or exciting as the one that KJo’s team achieved with the ‘Agneepath’ remake. This one is not exactly a remake –it’s more like a re-run of scenes and sequences from bollywood films of the 70’s, with a theme that runs rings around friendship, love and the metaphoric Kaala Pathar(coal).  
The film starts off in stereotypical 70’s mainstream Bollywood fashion- only the setting is different. It’s the India-Pak war of 1971 where India humiliated Pakistan by enforcing a surrender and liberating Bangladesh in the process. Two orphans, (best buddies) are sent to the Geneva Refugee camp in Dhaka, where they get exploited by a gun runner and a child molester and are forced to flee across the border into India, following a murder. Once in India, the two are repeatedly humiliated with their nationality being questioned time and again. So they vow to become the richest and fiercest ‘resident’ criminals that Calcutta has ever seen. While in the process of that aim (with canny help from a local lawyer played by Saurabh Shukla), the two Bikram(Ranveer Singh)  and Bala(Arjun Kapoor) also end up falling for the same woman- a cabaret dancer, Nandita(Priyanka Chopra). They toss a coin to see who gets  first dibs  to woo the pretty damsel and also end up accepting a wager from the damsel- to get her to fall in love with one of them before Durga Pooja. The plot gets even more ridiculous with an ACP Satya(Irrfan Khan who is also the one narrating the story from the opening frame) getting his polished boots  blackened by the soot, the two gunday’s generate. He is hot in pursuit and hopes to bring them to book by orchestrating enmity between the two and getting them into a feud-to-the death!
There’s absolutely no logic to what transpires on screen. The screenplay is totally ridiculous and the treatment (after a few spoofy, playful moments) goes skinny-dipping into a sea of nothingness.  Cliches are par for the course, of course. What maybe started off as a sort of spoofy homage to the 70’s Bollywood multi-starrers,  ends up becoming a kitsch that is so enervating that it’s beyond unbearable. The characters don’t have a realistic bent. The dialogues re-ebvision absurd theatrics. The music while peppy and energetic when experienced on screen, doesn’t stay with you for more than a few minutes after the end. The choreography is energetic and the vigor and vitality displayed by the two onscreen friends turned foes is commendable. 
They(Ranveer and Arjun) obviously had little else to work on in terms of character study. Priyanka’s comely loveliness livens-up the love challenge and Irrfan Khan’s tempered grandstanding manages to make the over-the-top seem bearable. Saurabh Shukla, the gem of an actor that he is, manages to fit in even in this outlandish proposition. Unfortunately the wayward, meteorite ravaged script is just too much of a no-show to make anything matter. The sloppy unlettered treatment is definitely not the kind expected from a Yashraj film.  Even DOP Aseem Mishra’s efforts to make things look good, comes asunder. There’s absolutely no way this one can save face with a long run!