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Category: Reviews

  • Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Our Dinosaur Diary review: Get ready for one of the craziest experiences in theaters as dinosaurs takeover the city

    Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Our Dinosaur Diary review: Get ready for one of the craziest experiences in theaters as dinosaurs takeover the city

    MUMBAI: Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Our Dinosaur Diary is not just a movie but also a portal to another world and it does its best to make you forget about the real world. For all the Shin-chan lovers, this movie has the same ol’ Shin-chan magic with a twist of dinosaurs that are out to create havoc in Japan. The movie is soon to release on 9th May.

    A fabulous job done by director Shinobu Sasaki and writer Moral and Yoshito Usui, who have kept quite a perfect balance between emotional scenes, insane comedy and some really good action scenes. The movie is sure to get us all captivated into its world.

    With “Dino’s Island” taking over the city as dinosaurs come alive, Shinnosuke and his friends grow close to Nana, a super-cute and affectionate dinosaur. Their unique bond is soon put to the test when the mysterious Bubble Odoroki targets Nana for a secret purpose, sparking a wild pursuit across Kasukabe and Tokyo.

    With a slightly less effective first half, the movie covers up well in the second half with great visuals and unpredictable storyline. The movie is somehow best experienced in theaters as it unites all the Shin-chan fans together. This actually makes up for a great experience as many moments in the movie become more exciting to watch with the audience’s reaction.

    The time when Nana used Shiro as a ball to fight back, the scene when shin-chan and the gang get surprised by dancing dinosaurs, the reaction of the audience when Nana changes his avatar and many more moments get hyped, making us more excited and connecting us more deeply with the movie.

    Yes, the movie has great humour and there are times when the bar of comedy will be raised really high and the surprising part is that even after all that, the emotional quotient won’t be lost. The dinosaur rampage will be terrifying to watch and at the same time, some scenes will grip you with its emotions.

    In conclusion, with a few slippery moments in the first half, this movie is sure to be one crazy roller coaster ride experience for everyone in the audience, making it one of the most memorable movies of the time.

    stars

  • JioHotstar ticks all the boxes for a world class service

    JioHotstar ticks all the boxes for a world class service

    MUMBAI: It’s a winner! All we can do is doff our hats to Uday Shankar and his band of JioStar men. The vice-chairman of JioStar and his team,  early this morning, unveiled a new streaming service JioHotstar which simply blew you away.  

    The logo – reminding of you of a distant  rising star – the colours, the tiles, the ease of navigation, the interactivity, the sheer breadth, the depth, and width of content (a lot has been spoken about the Disney, WBD, et al library, the top sports in the country) –  it’s all there, all one can expect from a best in class service.

    Congratulatory messages from a  host of top  Hindi and regional cinema icons – led by Salman Khan –  on the launch of JioHotstar keep you watching, even the promo.

    Netflix, and team Sarandos, you’d  better wake up, and smell the coffee, you will have a battle of perception on your hands of an Indian company being able to create a global gold standard streamer.

    What should also worry the rest of the streamers is the spawning of Sparks – an area reserved for creator-led content. There’s shows from  Zakir Khan, Fukra insaan, there’s Munawar Faruqui, Urfi Javed, Harsh  Gujral, Ranveer Braar, and Rahul Dua. And mind you unlike in the past, the content is good with game shows, dating shows etc.

    Hey, before anyone thinks we are being paid to be euphoric about JioHotstar, here’s a confession: we are not.

    Our review of the new JioHotstar is based on genuine pride that a streamer of this quality can emerge from India. One that can rival global players, in terms of design, tech, ease of use, and of course that most important element content!

    In fact, if there’s one hassle with the new JioHotstar it is that there’s  a problem of plenty, there’s too much too much content. But India is a land of diversity and the attempt is to cater to that. Good search and recommendation engines can really make the surfeit of content not appear like a problem at all!
     

  • Chef: Where is the audience?

    Chef: Where is the audience?

    Chef is a remake of 2014 Hollywood film of the same name, written, directed and co-produced by Jon Favreau, who also essayed the lead role. 

    Once in a while, an English movie story fits to the T catering to the Indian tastes. We had the 1970 film Love Story (Erich Segal) which Rajshri Pictures made in to “Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se” and, may be a few more; Segal’s own Man Woman And Child, which Shekhar Kapur adapted to make the acclaimed 1983 film, Masoom. 

    There are few such films which have universal sentiments and appeal to all. Chef is one such, despite its alien title. But, then, it aims to cater to the select audience. 

    The character of Saif Ali Khan is an Old Delhi, Chandni Chowk lad of the pre-3 Idiots generation when the kids were not allowed to dream of a career but parents decided what they would do. Somehow, Saif is interested in cooking and loves to stop at the famous street corner eatery selling chhole puri to learn the art. Aspirations were not encouraged in those days and, as a revolt to his father’s dictates, Saif runs away from home. 

    Having worked at a couple of Old Delhi dhabas, Saif hones his skills at the Golden Temple, as a kitchen help. 

    By this time, Saif has excelled at devising new recipes; chefs do that, a cook or a bawarchi just cooks up regular fare. Saif is famous, has made a name for himself in the US having left behind a divorced wife and a teenaged son in Cochin in Kerala. 

    One fine day, Saif’s food is criticised by a patron. Enraged and believing too much into his reputation as a renowned chef, Saif assaults the patron. Social media takes over, and there is no place for Saif anymore in the culinary circuit. 

    But, Saif has a growing son, played by Svar Kamble, overly fond of him, and an ex-wife, played by Padmapriya Janakiraman, who thinks Saif should devote some time to the son at this vital juncture in his life. The Padmapriya and Svar want him to visit. 

    Saif arrives in Kerala, builds bonhomie with his son and both are soon inseparable. While the mother is living her own life, the son discovers his father for the first time. 

    The world has had this wheelbarrow culture providing street food for ages which gradually moved on to food trucks. Major cities all over the world have a number of them. Then, there are also mobile restaurants like the double-decker buses which move around the scenic places of a town while you dine. 

    So there is the character of Milind Soman, Padmapriya’s friend, who offers him a dilapidated double-decker bus which he thinks is worth converting into a travelling/mobile restaurant. 

    Reluctant at first, Saif accepts the offer. He converts the bus into a restaurant with the help of his son. 

    The film turns into a road movie from here on. Saif may have married a Kerala woman but the place he wants to prove himself in is Delhi. The bus is on the move. Via Goa and other scenic places. A happy ending is promised which is what makes the film adaptable in Hindi from its Hollywood version. 

    What is good about the film is that is has been de-glamourised right on the onset. An effort is made so that it looks real life. The direction is apt sticking mostly to the original. Dialogue is lifelike. Visually, the film gives a pleasant feeling. Music is fair. 

    Chef is a watchable feel good film but, coming as it does during a dull period and lacking a draw (only Saif to count on), the opening has been poor and not much hope being held out either.

    Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Kishan Kumar, Raja Krishna Menon, Vikram Malhotra, Janani Ravichandran

    Director: Raja Krishna Menon. 

    Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Padmapriya Janakiraman, Svar Kamble, Milind Soman. 

  • Haseena Parkar….Who!

    Haseena Parkar….Who!

    Director Apoorva Lakhia seems to be getting excited about all the wrong ideas. Last time, he watched the 2004 Hollywood film, Man On Fire, came back jet speed to India and launched a Hindi ‘remake’.

    By the time he launched his movie, Ek Ajnabee, the original had fallen flat. Instead, what Lakhia could have done was adapt the book, Man On Fire, written by AJ Quinnell in 1987. The movie had left out all the best parts of the story.

    This time, he has dug out the life of Haseena Parkar (Sharddha Kapoor), post her brother, Dawood’s (Siddhant Kapoor) departure from India. Along with an important man from Dawood’s coterie, she continues with collection and extortion business of Dawood. Her brother, Dawood, may have left Mumbai, but his enemies were still around. Soon, Haseena’s husband, Akur Bhatia, is killed.

    This is about all that the writer-director have on their hand which is not enough, and it shows her becoming woman of power to facing the law. The film ends up glorifying Parker, and one wonders how she merited a film be made on her or her story be told!

    If the makers think casting Shraddha and Siddhant, the real brother and sister, was some sort of a coup, it was no such thing.

    However, what was funny was and advertorial in newspaper supplement which claimed: Sharddha-Siddhant shed tears on the sets of Hasena Parkar! What kind of a childish promotion is this?

    There is nothing to write home about performances. Shraddha tries to justify the role of Haseena and there is nothing to compare if she is living up to the original.

    Also, whoever had played Haseena would not have made much difference as one can’t take a liking to negative character for no reason. Rest don’t matter.

    Haseena Parkar will prove to be liability.

    Producers: Nahid Khan.

    Director: Apoorva Lakhia.

    Cast: Shraddha Kapoor, Siddhant Kapoor, Ankur Bhatia.

  • Bhoomi….80s revisited

    Bhoomi….80s revisited

    Bhoomi, directed by Omung Kumar, is a throwback to the 1980s era when the villain and his cohorts would rape a hero’s sister and he would take revenge against them. Except that, in Bhoomi, it is the daughter of the character of Sanjay Dutt, played by Aditi Rao Hydari, who is raped the night before her wedding and after surviving another rape and an attempt to kill her, she first breaks down completely as does her father but eventually systematically kills all the bad men.

    The biggest plus point of Bhoomi is that this film marks the return of Sanjay Dutt and that too playing his age. Time has added a few wrinkles and gravitas to his personality but this is vintage Dutt, the larger-than-life hero. On the minus side is that the script offers nothing new in terms of action and reaction.

    Dutt and Hydari lead a peaceful existence in Agra where Dutt has a shop that specializes in mojris and Hydari is a wedding planner cum mehndi expert. She is in love with a local doctor — played by Sidhanth Gupta, and their wedding is due to take place in a few days when the film opens.

    Another boy is also in love with her and when she spurns his advances, he and two thugs (Sharad Kelkar is one) decide to rape her. She tells her to be husband about the rape and the wedding is cancelled.

    They get no justice when they file charges against the perpetrators, and are all set to try to build their lives again when their hopes come dashing down with the constant humiliation they have to face. After a point, they have no choice — but retaliate.

    Small town India is the new locale for films but, while most are quirky, Bhoomi explores its narrow-mindedness. Dutt and Hydari share a warm camaraderie and this elevates the film. But, it is needlessly violent and sometimes crude and this will make it more of a single screen film that a pan Indian one.

    Dutt underplays the grieving father while Hydari tends to ham in dramatic sequences. Kelkar is a fitting successor to earlier villains. Kumar directs ably.

    Though the film is just 135 minutes long, the incessant padding of scenes before it gets down to business, i.e. revenge, makes it seem longer and that drags down the film.

    Bhoomi may be Dutt’s comeback film but the opening response reflects no such enthusiasm on the part of moviegoer.

    Producers: Bhushan Kumar, KIshan Kumar, Omung Kumar.

    Direction: Omung Kumar.

    Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Aditi Rao Hydari.

  • Simran: Ill-defined

    Simran: Ill-defined

    Gujarati NRI family or a Gujarati abroad seems to be the current theme for filmmakers. We recently had Jab Harry Met Sejal and this week has seen the release of Simran. 

    Simran is about a Gujarati family settled in the US that consists of a mother, a father and a daughter. The daughter, KanganaRanaut, is a divorcee and, mainly, a rebel without a cause. She works at a hotel in the housekeeping department. Her job is the usual – making beds and cleaning room, but, she is particular about calling her job as one in housekeeping department; that probably gives it dignity according to her. Still, she does not think much of her father’s business of vending Gujarati savouries. 

    Kangana is always at loggerheads with her father except, of course, when she needs a favour, especially monetary help. While her father and mother are keen on getting her married again, her priority is to move out to a place of her own. She has been saving for a new house due to which her contribution to the household is nil.

    Asked to accompany her cousin to Vegas, she agrees. Her cousin has a rendezvous planned with her boyfriend there.Deciding to leave her cousin alone with her man, she wanders into a casino. On the bar counter she spots a handsome man and decides to hit on him. As the hunk goes to a gambling table, she follows him there where she meets another Gujarati who encourages and teaches her to gamble. 

    Kangana has that customary beginners luck, wins some money and immediately decides cater to some urges to buy a dress and other things. And, she is back to the gambling table. The beginners luck has worn out and she starts losing and, like most gamblers, wants to one more go finally also losing her savings. The casino loans her money, 32,000 dollars! 

    Kangana’s troubles have started. Since her savings are finished, her credit rating falls and her application for a loan for her new home is denied. The gun totting black collector for the casino is at her back, threatening all the time. 

    To lay her hands on money, Kangana decides to rob banks. Her three attempts are successful but, strangely, no bank seems to have 50,000 dollars which she now owes to the casino including interest. Kangana loses her job when the black casino collector comes to her workplace. To add to her troubles, the stolen money which she kept in her locker in the hotel changing room is also gone.

    Kangana decides on one final robbery.

    In the meanwhile, she has come close to the guy her family has chosen, takes a liking to him as well. But, it is also the time for her troubles to climax. 
    The film’s story does not quite convince a viewer. There is no logic to the protagonist’s behaviour. Her attitude, way of life and thinking are not identifiable. The walking into a bank and scaring the teller enough to hand over all the money on a lipstick inscribed threat chit seems easier than cashing a cheque in any bank! For one who never cares for the feelings of her father or the saamaj which he often cites, it is strange that she decides to lead the police away from the population lest the samaaj sees her. The direction of the movie is passable but has taken too many liberties. The cinematography is good as the US locations provide ample scope. Using Gujarati dialogue frequently does not help the cause with other audiences as has been seen in earlier films that have resorted to a regional language. The music works well for the film.

    This is purely a KanganaRanaut vehicle with other actors being incidental. She excels. Soham Shah in a small role is sincere. 

    Simran has had a poor opening. The chances of picking up are dim during this dull period.

    Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Shailesh R Singh, Amit Agarwal.
    Director: Hansal Mehta.
    Cast: KanganaRanaut, Soham Shah.
     

  • Lucknow Central…Script of convenience

    Lucknow Central…Script of convenience

    Lucknow Central has its inspiration from some foreign films. The titles acknowledge that it was inspired by Healing Hearts –the story is of a band promoted by a jail superintendent at a Lucknow jail with inmates. Whatever the source, the film has a similar storyline to the recently released film from Yash Raj Films, Qaidi Band, which had its inspiration from the life of Machang Lalung, a man who spent 52 years in jail without facing a trial.

    The basic plot in both the films is the same. A few inmates are asked by a politician to form a music band to showcase the good work being done by authorities to rehabilitate prisoners. But, the inmates want to use the opportunity to escape from jail.

    Farhan Akhtar is a small town UP lad who loves to sing and aspires to form his own music band someday. He cuts a CD of his music, and, during a public rally, he tries to reach out to the chief guest, Manoj Tiwari, to hand over his CD but is pushed back by a government official. His CD is stepped upon and trampled.

    On the way back, Farhan observes that the same official’s car has broken down. He offers to help but makes fun of him and drives off. Unfortunately, for Farhan, this official is found murdered at the same spot.

    Farhan is picked up the next morning and, in a speedy trial, consigned to life imprisonment which is later challenged by vested interests seeking capital punishment for him. The latter part is not necessary to carry on the story as such.

    Independence Day and the Republic Day are celebrated in jails with active participation of the inmates and a minister uses the occasion to gain some photo-ops. The Chief Minister of the state, Ravi Kissen, wants the jail in Lucknow to have its own band for the forthcoming celebrations and competition between all the jails from the state. The task to put together a band is handed to Diana Penty, a social worker.

    Farhan convinces her that only he can make a band in Lucknow Jail. He is transferred from Moradabad Jail to Lucknow Central Jail. Farhan’s plan is to use the celebrations when all jail authorities will be busy to escape from the jail.

    Of course, his entry to Lucknow Central has some usual sequences one has been seeing in jail scenes for ages. There are groups and people who call the shots and dominate other inmates. Farhan is invited to join one group, and, when he refuses, he is made to suffer. But, soon his resistance brings the other group, led by Rajesh Sharma, to his side.

    Farhan gets down to forming the band and adds Sharma, Deepak Dobriyal, Inaamulhaq and Gippy Grewal to the band. The band uses its practice sessions to plan their escape.While, the band has the blessings of the CM and the IG of Police, the one against it is Ronit Roy, the jailor who thinks that this jail is his personal fiefdom.

    The jailed inmates who don’t know M of music are singing in tune and unison when Ronit decides to test them. The IG is impressed.

    Lucknow Central is a script of convenience. Anything can happen at the will and whim of the writer. It makes everything look so simple in a heavily guarded jail, especially for those who have the jailor’s evil eyes set on them! For one thing, there are no pleasant moments in the film nor glamour even in passing. Not a presentable face either. Some sequences are unnecessary while some others are stretched. The direction is patchy and predictable. Editing, obviously, is lacking. The cinematography is okay. Production values are average. Music was supposed to be the film’s main theme but it falls short on that count also, with just a couple of its songs being good. But, is a Punjabi song necessary in Hindi films that too in the climax as a bunch of UP jail mates, led by a UPite Farhan, perform a Punjabi number for the UP CM? Choreography, however, is not up to the mark.

    Lucknow Central has nothing to lure the viewers to the cinema.

    Producers: Nikhil Advani, MonishaAdvani, Madhu G Bhojwani.
    Director: Ranjit Tiwari.
    Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Diana Penty, Gippy Grewal, Deepak Dobriyal, Rajesh Sharma, Inaamulhaq, RonitRoy, Ravi Kissen, Manoj Tiwari (sp. App).

  • A rustic comedy and a thriller fail to lift spirits this week

    A rustic comedy and a thriller fail to lift spirits this week

    Baadshaho………..Poor show

    Baadshaho is an action heist film which bases its story in the period after the declaration of the National Emergency in 1975. However for its plot, it takes its inspiration from various English as well as Hindi films where a bunch of daredevils are assigned to hijack an armoured truck full of royal treasure.

    A person, a lookalike of Sanjay Gandhi, is at a party. Also present is the princess, Ileana D’Cruz, of some place in Rajasthan. The privy purses have been withdrawn and now the source of sustenance for the princess is the treasure her ancestors gathered during their reign.

    The Sanjay lookalike has a eye on Ileana and when he makes his advances, she stops him cold by pulling out a family sword.

    The Emergency has been declared and it is time for the bad man to seek his revenge. He orders an army officer to confiscate all of Ileana’s family treasure and also arrest her on the grounds that she failed to declare her assets.

    Ileana has a personal bodyguard, Ajay Devgn, who earlier served under her father and who is the only person her father trusted. She romances Ajay to make doubly sure he remains loyal to her. She asks him to save her treasure which is being transferred in a fool-proof armoured military truck to the bad man’s personal collection.

    Ajay forms a group of four. He enlists Emraan Hashmi and Sanjay Mishra, an expert at opening any safe. The fourth in the group is Esha Gupta, Ileana’s friend.

    All this seems very exciting but the dull part starts when the four get into planning the heist. Ajay and his gang has to contend with men from the army no less, and they have assigned their best commando, Vidyut Jamwal, to protect and deliver the treasure-laden truck to the baddie in Delhi.

    What follows is a chase through the deserted roads of Rajasthan as Ajay, Emraan, Esha and Mishra get in the act to hijack the truck. There are some stunts and some gunfights before they take hold of the truck. The chase has now reverses with Ajay and his group being chased by Jamwal and his men to regain control of the truck. Some more action and some hand-to-hand fight and the final deceit—as Ajay was not the only one Ileana was romancing.

    The story is not convincing and the screenplay is too loose. An action-adventure film needs tense moments which are lacking. Even during the Emergency, one does not expect the army to help a politician, howsoever powerful, to steal somebody’s treasure. And, that an army commando on duty should be leading the theft. The direction lacks the slickness of a usual Luthria film. The film has thankfully avoided too many songs. An old Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan number, Mere Rashke Qamar….has been put to good use here. Cinematography is good but the climax action shot in desert amid a dust storm makes it impossible to see who is fighting who.

    Performance wise, the film is lacking as Ajay Devgn looks mechanical while Emraan is little better. Sanjay Mishra is good as usual. Jamwal dons a wig as big as a helmet and has none of his signature bare-chested fights. Esha Gupta adds the necessary glam angle. Ileana D’Cruz does not fill the personality of a royal.

    Baadshaho is a poor film with some appeal for single screen and poor prospects as a whole.

    Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Kishan Kumar, Milan Luthria.

    Director: Milan Luthria.

    Cast: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta, Ileana D’Cruz, Vidyut Jamwal, Sanjay Mishra.

    Shubh Mangal Saavdhan………..The title warns!

    Shubh Mangal Saavdhan is one more romantic comedy set in UP. The arranged marriages are said to tie two families and the extended families are meant to respect each other while also maintaining a kind of distance. The families in this film are a bit different.

    In an effort to give a purpose to the story, the film’s main theme is erectile dysfunction. Ayushman Khurrana is an engineering diploma holder working somewhere in the NCR. He has taken a liking to Bhumi Pednekar and stalks her every day. Yet, he stops short of approaching her and striking up a conversation. Bhumi, on her part, is pleased that a presentable young man is interested in her and, every day, when Ayushman stalks her, she expects him to come and break the ice.

    Finally, when he gathers courage to approach her, a bear from a roadside madari clings to his leg and his mission remains incomplete. The family may look traditional but their thinking is quite contemporary. On his mother’s advice, Ayushman sends a marriage proposal online to Bhumi.

    Both families are happy at the prospects of the wedding of their respective wards. A video conference between both families finalises the rishta.

    Bhumi is happy and  yet disappointed at the sudden development. She did not plan on a sudden arranged marriage. She dreamt of romance; to meet Ayushman, go through the whole process and the excitement of courting, the SMS, the late night chats, before marrying.

    The couple now plans to make up on the romance before the wedding date. And, one fine evening, both get excited and plan to celebrate their honeymoon not waiting for the wedding. To their disappointment, Ayushman realizes that he is not quite up to it (a bit late at age 26). He has a problem of erectile dysfunction. Looks like, he cannot get excited enough. Ayushman tries all the quacks and Bangalibabas to no avail.

    Ayushman is not sure about getting into matrimony anymore but Bhumi is determined. Her contention is that the duo can do a lot of things so what if there is no sex. Soon, Ayushman’s problem is known to everybody. The rest of the film tries to thrive on that but does not quite manage it. For the sake of comedy, the girl’s and boy’s parents trade blames, exchange insults, stopping just short of coming to blows.

    The writers seem to be in a hurry to introduce the erectile dysfunction angle and see the whole film through on that ‘ace’ in their script. So, that happens soon into the film even before the plot develops or before whiling away some footage on romance, song and dance.

    The erectile problem should have served its purpose had it been introduced best at the break of the first half. For, after springing early, there is nothing left to lift the film. The comedy situations are forced and you do not know who is doing what and to what end! The outcome is a farce.

    There is nothing much to say about the performances of the lead pair, Ayushman

    Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar. The supporting cast has some talented lot who give a good account of themselves. Direction is below par. The film is only 105 minutes in duration but, lacking substance, seems too long. Cinematography is okay. Musically, Kanha….has some appeal. Dialogues provide some pleasant moments at times.

    Opened with poor response, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan offers little in the name of comedy.

    Producers: Aanand L Rai, Krishika Lulla.

    Director: R S Prasanna.

    Cast: Ayushman Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar, Brijendra Kala.

  • A Gentleman: Sundar, Susheel, Risky: Dream native and act Hollywood

    A Gentleman: Sundar, Susheel, Risky: Dream native and act Hollywood

    The title of the film needs some elaborate explaining. A film’s title says a lot about the film. When did you last hear somebody use the word Gentleman? It is a phrase from history, the British era. And, what is more, does the title say anything at all about the film? It does not, nothing at all.

    A Gentleman seems to be a film inspired from all the popular action movies from the late 20th Century James Bond, Bourne Identity and such. The idea is to dream native and act Hollywood.

    Director-duo Raj and Dk’s films like Go Goa Gone and Shor in the City are mostly made on alien themes. A Gentleman is also one of those where there is action galore, justification be damned.

    The character of Sidharth Malhotra, living in Miami, works for a force called National Security Council, headed by the character of Suniel Shetty. Though dealing in violence, at heart he is a simple man with simple dreams of having a home and family. He wants to settle down with his love played by Jaqueline Fernandez, to a quiet life and bring up kids! As the film’s tagline says, he is Sundar, Susheel, Risky.

    Towards this end, Sidharth plays a simple man, Gautam, with no hint of his other side as the undercover operative, Rishi. He wants to get out of this business to live a tranquil life. But, the Group and Shetty won’t let him. He will be hunted down by Shetty’s men. What follows is mayhem. It is the stylish, Bond kind of action with guys dressed in tuxedos spraying bullets.

    The flavour is that of a light comedy as dialogues laced with humour are thrown around. It is mainly all about Sidharth and Jacqueline hanging around driving fast cars and pole dancing.

    Being a Hollywood type film made by Indians, the location is the picturesque Miami, the style is like a Bond film. Humour and action are the mainstay of the film. The emphasis is on style rather than content.

    The direction is slick. Cinematography captures the locations very well. But, stretching a film on such a genre, with not yet established faces, to 133 minutes takes its toll. Things get monotonous. The film could have done with some trimming. Songs don’t help much.

    Sidharth passes the sartorial test but is yet to polish up his performance. Jacqueline provides the glamour quotient. Shetty gets little worthwhile to do.

    Amit Mistry and Hussain Dalal make their presence felt. Rajit Kapoor and Supriya Pilgaonkar are okay.

    A Gentleman has not been able to arouse any curiosity through its pre-release promotions while the title is also uninspiring. Faces poor prospects.

    Producer: Fox Star Studios.

    Directors: Raj and D K.

    Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandez, Suniel Shetty, Darshan Kumar, Hussain Dalal, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Rajit Kapur.

  • Akshay Kumar’s versatility saves holiday week from dullness

    Akshay Kumar’s versatility saves holiday week from dullness

    The flow of new films seems to have tapered down. In the weeks when new films are not meant to be released like during IPL or exams etc, a bunch of small, inconsequential films swarm the cinemas. Even if one or two of them had a merit, they stood no chance because of high admission rates, odd show timings that they were meted out, and the lack of face value of such films.

    Now, when the playtime is open and available, the exhibitors were able to get one Bareilly Ki Barfi besides the other release, Partition: 1947 (Hindi-Dubbed), which failed to get the footfalls and faced a no audience, no show situation.

    The starving cinema halls had some relief with Akshay Kumar’s Toilet: Ek Prem Katha with an extended Independence Day weekend coinciding. The film raced to the Rs 900 million-figure during these holidays. The film has to meet the target of Rs 1.25 billion and, looking at the weak opposition in the new release, Bareilly Ki Barfi, the Akshay-starrer should sail safe eventually.

    *Bareilly Ki Barfi had some renowned names riding with it. The film boasts of Nitesh Tiwari who wrote and directed the recent blockbuster Dangal, as the writer while Ashwini Iyer Tiwary, who made Nil Battey Sannata, as the director. Both the writer and the director failed to live up to their earlier glory as Bareilly Ki Barfi has none of that spontaneity or laughter expected of their work.

    The film opened with a low Ra 20 million. The Saturday improvement was fair but still on the lower side while Sunday was much better with double the Friday figures. The film ended its opening weekend with a total of Rs 108 million.

    *The other major release, UK-based Gurinder Chadha’s Partition: 1947 (Hindi-Dubbed), an attempt to tell the behind-the-scenes story of the Partition, had little relevance for today’s Indian viewers. A futile attempt, it finds no takers as the film fared poorly at the box office.

    *Toilet Ek Prem Katha thrived on the holiday week. The week had a holiday on Monday in many parts being Janmashtami, a national holiday on Tuesday being the Independence Day and the Parsi New Year holiday on Thursday in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

    The film had opened with fairly decent collections and picked up steam on Saturday and Sunday with the holidays adding handsomely to take the collections on the verge of Rs one billion, the mark it will easily cross during its second weekend. 

    With an opening weekend of Rs 511 million, the film added another Rs 415 million to take its first week tally to Rs 936 crore million.

    *Jab Harry Met Sejal added Rs 41.5 million in its second week to take its two-week total to Rs 616.5 million.

    *Mubarakan is struggling to sustain, despite being a fairly entertaining film, and keeps holding out hope in its subsequent weeks which will help cut down its losses. The film collected a decent Rs 54 million taking its four week total to Rs 553 million.