CHENNAI EXPRESS

Firstly, for getting the actresses' name to appear before the actor's on the credit titles- Salute!

If you get the humor, you are on track. Rohit Shetty’s sense of humor will certainly appeal to the larger section of audience, the classes might feel left out, but the masses will receive ample whistle-moments in larger than life action sequences, romance and well intended humor. Like they say, you can’t please everyone.

Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) on-boards the Chennai Express to dupe his grandmother who has asked him to immerse the ashes of his grandfather in Ramesvaram. But instead of meeting his filthy brained pals, he ends up meeting the good hearted, runaway bride, Meena (Deepika Padukone), who is the daughter of a Don in Komban village of Tamil Nadu and gets stuck up with her. The two try to escape the goons by running away.

If the script of Chennai Express is keenly observed, one may hardly find any new angle in the storyline. But the film’s presentation and its humor bring about all the difference. They provide for stuff unseen before. Watch out for the manner in which Shetty transitions from one scene to the other in several places. It is a visual delight. Of course the director has done this in his previous films; here it seems more sophisticated.

The film seems to leverage upon the fact that it has as its lead actor, none other than Shah Rukh Khan. The beginning scene in Chennai Express has been popularly termed as the spoof of SRK’s DDLJ train sequence. Well it is a spoof very well done! Just notice the change in music each time SRK lends out his hand (with all the love!) off the train. If that is not funny for you, you have missed out the Khan- Shetty sense of humor, that the film is essentially all about and have boarded the wrong train!

The script is simple and proceeds with ease. Shah Rukh Khan does a wonderful job. His comic timing is perfect and he is a visual delight on the 70mm (even otherwise). Be it action, romance (needless to say) or comedy, his experience at everything shows off with brilliance. Deepika Padukone lends a fantastic support. Her Tamilian-Hindi accent is very praiseworthy. Surely, many will try to imitate it after watching this one! The part in which they communicate by singing songs in life threatening situations is hilarious! Kudos! There is a lot of Tamil spoken undoubtedly but unexpectedly, this is used to maintain suspense in one scene.

This is a comedy film. So it’s delightful to note how it never lets go off the humor angle even amidst all the melodramatic scenes that add depth to the movie. All the Tamil to Hindi comedy is very wittily done. Kudos to the writers for innumerable lines that have a well intended sense of humor. For example, the one in which SRK says, “Tu Don ki nahi Donkey ki ladki hai!” It is funny to watch SRK hit on a lady sitting right opposite to him by singing “Tujhe dekha to…”! Also a variation in his character, Rahul, is brought about very well. The sequences in which she falls in love with him and he falls in love with her are very convincing. The latter part is scripted well with a dialogue fit to win hearts. In fact there are many hearty moments- The fight for love, the strength of love, doing the right thing by facing a problem and finally a good deed by the goon men. It’s probably nothing you haven’t seen before but these are glue elements that hook the audience.

Music and choreography are very well done. The colorful songs look beautiful on screen.

Such comedies are termed brainless, but the fact is you need intelligence to twist and turn words, sentences, languages and in the case of this one, even songs. So don’t miss the chance! Get on the train and watch out for everything up till the Lungi Dance!

RATING- 4 stars

Bombay Talkies- An Attack on Commercial Cinema!

A film that shuns romance claims to pay a tribute to the Indian Cinema. Perhaps that was meant to be funny coz the cine-makers otherwise seldom bother themselves with humor. Ok and the melodrama? Dude, shun that too coz we have had a 100 years- Enough of it, but then let’s call our compilation of short stories (some of them give you the sensational feeling of nothingness, but that’s ok) a tribute to 100 years of cinema. It didn't strike us that we could release this film a day earlier and call it a tribute to Ray, for it was his birthday- we only want to show realistic cinema but then CALL THAT A TRIBUTE TO 100 YEARS OF CINEMA. But what about the “stars”? - They are an important aspect of this industry? Don't we cast at-least a considerable number of them? Ah, don’t bother, we just have 1.5 Cr, but ya, lets do an acme song roping them in and making them mouth "Bombay Talkies" in the most effectively idiotic manner... Ah, we got Jhakaas-Aamir at centre, S-SS-SS-S- SRK and Eh, Akshay to the right and left- Jhaka-sssss-eh-chievement!

Somehow the filmmakers (exclude Johar) seem to be in awe of the lower middle class lifestyle. Alright. But what's with slaughtering entertainment? For Kashyap and Bannerjee probably, every street joker is a hero! So be it, but don't call it a tribute to Indian Cinema, for Mr. Bachchan's sake!

The offbeat genre is the most prominent connectivity among the four stories. The stories are very realistic and so much that it feels like you are spying lives onscreen. No story really bores you, considering their brevity, but few possess entertaining moments, pardon the cinematic sparks.

Karan Johar depicts the life of a married couple (Rani Mukerjee and Randeep Hooda), that changes when a gay (Saqib Salim) encounters them. Johar has done a fabulous job by picking up a story based upon an unusual theme and handling it tactfully. His piece is devoid of any artificiality. Homosexuality is a joke no more. He deals with the issue with sincerity and apt seriousness. The beautiful Rani Mukherjee deserves heaps of praise for her performance. She fits in so effortlessly that the character becomes synonymous with her. Randeep Hooda, a committed actor that he is, delivers a brilliant performance. Kudos to Johar for he is the only one who actually tackles a sensitive and controversial subject, like never before. He has pushed the boundaries for bolder, liberal and more sensible cinema to set in. He makes an effective usage of the songs- Lag Jaa Gale and Ajeeb Dasataan Hai Ye. Clearly, it is the best among the four- Watch this one.

Dibakar Bannerjee tells you a tale of a common man (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and his struggle in life to earn money and prove his worth to his daughter. It is a narration of a day from the man’s life. It does not have anything catchy in particular, but it’s realistic. Now, Banerjee’s account makes you question if realism alone can provide the stamp of good cinema?

Zoya Akhtar depicts a story of a little boy (Naman Jain) aspiring to become a dancer while his father (Ranveer Shorey) wants him to get into profession meant for men. Though pulled off well, it seems like a short story meant for children! Katrina Kaif as a white angel preaching you to follow your heart and dreams is cute, not more than that. Akhtar’s story is simple and realistic. Let’s thank her for playing Shiela Ki Jawaani on the big screen again!

Anurag Kashyap, a filmmaker par brilliance that he is, remains loyal to his tried and tested cinematic flavor. The story is about an ordinary man (Vineet Kumar) who tries to meet the legenday Amitabh Bachchan in order to fulfill his father (Sudhir Pandey)’s last wish. Kashyap’s tale has its interesting points well laid out. An other aspect of his story is his subtle depiction of an innocent rural man learning the worldly tricks of harmless deception. Its musical score has been well composed. This one’s another story worth the watch. But if you’re not quite an offbeat person, you are likely to catch a “realistic ache” by the time this one sets in!

So but we don’t have any of those high power tension driven dialogues either- Ah, that’s alright coz its Bombay “Talkies”!

RATING- 3 stars

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola

Rather than relying upon a solid script, director Vishal Bharadwaj heavily banks upon craziness! A striking feature of this one is probably the frenzy momentum brought about against a rural setting.

Matru (Imran Khan) is the indebted servant of Harry Mandola(Pankaj Kapur), a wealthy business man who wants to deceive the poor farmers and purchase their land to build a factory. Chaudhri Devi (Shabana Azmi) is a greedy politician who wishes to help Harry for her own benefits. Bijli (Anushka Sharma) is a wild and carefree bird who is in love with Devi’s son, Badal.

Bharadwaj seems to have switched from realism to surrealism. He does not bother to justify the events or character-changes unfolding on screen. He clings on to a sense of madness that requires no justification. It seems like he wanted his cinema to portray one hell of a mad-house radiating laughter, but unfortunately his sense of humor, runs out of novelty. His comic scenes are limited to histrionics of a drunken man, sting of honey bees, office hour flirting between the aged, throwing cow-dung and calling a fat woman dressed in pink, “gulabi bhains”! Further disappointing is how these elements seem to have been forced into the script.

Pankaj Kapur’s character has been sketched interestingly. Note how well he steers the drunken act. But after a point of time, you get bored of the dragging humor. A bearded Imran plays his part well. He seems to manage it all effortlessly. The energetic Anushka Sharma is good, but again she doesn't do things any differently from what she has done before. Given her talent, it is more versatility that is expected of her. The veteran Shabana Azmi shines in parts but disappointingly ends up making a caricature of her character. Or probably that was meant to be a satire designed to induce humor!

The movie turns senseless towards the end which makes you see the brainlessness of it all! This one’s a light hearted drama not asking itself to be taken seriously. As for the director, he seems less inspired by Shakespeare (he's the man who made Maqbool and Omkara afterall) and more by the likes of comedy filmmakers. Now that’s some change!

The pink cow act shall remain the movie’s novelty.

RATING- 2 stars