Krazzy 4 - Rediff's Movie Review

By Raja Sen for Rediff.com, Click Here for Original.

You know what?

Ram Sampath was right to sue; he made the best part of Krazzy 4.

A while after leaving theatres, all that resonates in your ears from Jaideep Sen's directorial debut is that Sony Ericsson track Hrithik Roshan (and Shah Rukh Khan) took turns grooving to, the younger star doing significantly better than the older, who seemed to alarmingly have a 'bit of a Michael Jackson thing going on.'

Anyway, this is not the place to discuss item numbers (and I'm certainly not keen to discourse on Irrfan Khan's attempts at rubbing out Rakhi Sawant's tattoo), and convention dictates this is where we talk about the film.

Sigh. Must we?

On paper, there must have been something to Jaideep Sen's directorial debut that made sense. A reworking of hackneyed Michael Keaton starrer Dream Team, the film is about four madmen of varying mental disability out on the town and involved in a kidnapping plot.

Add to that a hearty Bollywood dose of message-filmmaking, extraneous patriotism and good ol' backstory-masala, and -- on paper, as we said -- there must have been a few gleaming grains of potential. Toss in a few capable actors, producer Rakesh Roshan might have justifiably reasoned, and we're cooking.

The problem, however, despite all the excessive slapstick elements well in place, lies with the script. Relying purely on actor-expressions and a few moments of action can't quite do the job. The cast is a decidedly fine mix as Rajpal Yadav, Irrfan Khan, Arshad Warsi and Suresh Menon get to pirouette around Juhi Chawla and Dia Mirza while Zakir Hussain and Rajat Kapoor look on -- but there's only so much good timing can do without authentic punchlines.

There's nothing offensively 'wrong' with Krazzy 4, especially compared to the atrocities served up nowadays. It's almost a throwback to older funny-movies, and the farce never quite enters modern day (read Priyadarshan) territory. The film seems to have its heart in the right place, tries to pretend there's a message, albeit vague. For all its naivete, it could actually have been quite charming.

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Except, um... it's just not funny.

So we have Angry Arshad, Freedom-Fighter Rajpal, Irrfan the Compulsive Cleaner and -- in a bizarre bit of miscasting for a talented mimic -- Menon the Mute, all heading out to watch an India-England cricket match on Independence day, something Dr Juhi Chawla thinks would teach them the value of teamwork.

Naturally, all hell breaks loose as our titular quartet squabble and huddle together to save the day against all odds. There are a couple of well-conceived sequences, like a mall-full of shoppers standing at attention during the national anthem hitting out at goons for not doing the same, and the idea of a begging song, but the jokes are lost in the execution.

As said, it's not horrible. You can watch the film without cringing, and indulgently smile at where what is going wrong and, figuring out how the real joke might have sounded as intended, chuckle a bit. And honestly, this isn't a film we're trying to make sense of, or nitpicking about plot detail: make it loony, for god's sake, go wild but try and make it funny, instead of hoping Irrfan's and Rajpal's faces do the trick.

And so we are better off discussing the item track, SRK's MJ routine and Hrithik's impressively fluid vertebrae managing to at least hold viewer attention and giving us a bit of a thump. Well, at least more than the film.

Rediff Rating:

U Me Aur Hum - Rediff's Movie Review

By Raja Sen for Rediff.com, Click Here for Original.

It's not for the faint of kerchief.

Imagine a party at home to celebrate your first-born. You merrily pour the guests drinks as they saunter around, wistfully creating an ad-hoc ghazal, borrowing lines from life and Pakeezah, when you notice your wife is missing. She hasn't been well, a fact you've tried to shield her from, but something she seems more than in sync with when you find her, moist-eyed and pensive, on the upper-floor balcony.

Rubbing her now-flat stomach, she turns to you and tells you of her awakening: that she can't possibly have a baby, that she wouldn't be able to take care of the child. Your muscles tense as you see her coming to grips with the harrowing situation, and you lean in when she says she wants an abortion.

She's forgotten, you see.

A film about the justifiably dreaded Alzheimer's disease, U Me Aur Hum is a well-crafted film that is, in its own unshowy way, a film about memory itself.

Ajay Devgan's first is an impressive directorial debut that starts abruptly but gathers force as it goes along, ending up finding its own voice. Despite the candyfloss title and the initially breezy proceedings in promos all over, this is a powerful romantic drama.

And Devgan deals with the story with surprising maturity.

I say surprising because, like all movies where a poignant second half is overcompensated for by an exaggeratedly happy first act, Devgan starts off making you almost squirm in your seat with his swaggering portrayal of the self-proclaimed smooth operator, whose idea of hitting on a girl involves lots of Hallmark lines and shirts itemgirl-istically bereft of buttons.

Yet, the way you could choose to look at this, is in the key of nostalgia. When old Ajay tells old Kajol about a romance a quarter-century old -- via a narrative-style taken from The Notebook -- he's wearing youth-tinted glasses and hence, in his mind's eye, he sees himself as dashing and suave and irrepressible, something that changes completely as his narrative shifts to Act Two, where he starts picturing himself as troubled and under-the-weather. As said, it is about memory.

It starts off so banally you wonder why it's even been made. Amid fairly contrived cruise-liner shenanigans, we meet the characters -- his 'suave' Dr Ajay, her vivacious waitress, Piya. He lies his way into her heart, she discovers this and leaves him, and thus traditional film-love schlock continues as he comes home and mopes to himself, painting his walls white and thinking she'll someday return to him -- while his friends all shake their heads sadly, knowing nothing will come of it.

And it is here that Devgan defiantly bucks the trend, calling over the gang with furious impatience one night. Sitting on his steps wearing an ornate sherwani, he beckons them upstairs with vague talk about a wedding, and opens his door to show off a sheepishly grinning Piya, and a pandit.

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Fantastic. There is no long-drawn resolution of conflict, no struggle to tell backstories and show-ff wordy speeches that don't matter. Between pheras, the newly-minted couple fill in the friends with casually hurried flashbacks. Things work out, Ajay smilingly tells us -- before going on to show us how, sometimes, they don't.

The best thing about Devgan's directorial debut is that he shows enough confidence in his script to not dumb it down.

He tells a very powerful story, for example, without ever resorting to that most traditional and painful of Bollywood cop-out methods, the flash-cuts. It may sound simple, but this is a step to applaud. So used to are we to an audience (we assume) is inattentive that the unfolding of a twist -- or the fruition of a plot-point -- is automatically accompanied by a flurry of scenes we saw a half-hour ago and a repeat of dialogues.

Ajay, in a film where there are allusions made almost constantly, could well choose to emphasise the onset of disease by repeating the way Piya confused a vodka order for tequila and 6 am for 7, but he blessedly doesn't. He lets the audience do the thinking on their own, and that's what makes this film work.

That, and Kajol. We know the actress can span through happy-breezy with her eyes closed, and so the first half doesn't even pose her a challenge, but when Alzheimer's strikes Piya and she begins to forget all that matters in her life, Kajol raises the bar strikingly high.

There is a scene when the doctor is diagnosing her condition, and she is breaking down in shame and fear. The doctor tells her a line to relax her and she makes up a punchline, grinning bravely through her tears. It's a phenomenal performance.

And Devgan, as his character grows, discovers both shirt-buttons and subtlety, delivering an intense acting job. Speaking almost entirely in platitudes -- pithy at first, profound as he goes on -- this grows into an extraordinarily well-written character, replete with flaws and relatability. The way he treats his remorse, drunkenly pointing every finger at himself around a dinner table, is superbly handled, as is his guilty struggle to delineate his life experience from his professional opinion.

And while we watch this tragic, heartbreaking film with moist eyes, it is all about hope. There are nightmares -- a scene with an infant is pushed to a shocking extreme (and dealt with very intelligently, in terms of linearity) -- but then again, there are friends to carry you along on their shoulders. Sumeet Raghavan, playing a fellow doctor with marital discord, is super in his role, and needs to be singled out for giving the narrative much strength.

Devgan decidedly has some way to go as a director, especially visually. There is no consistency to the basic style of the film as split-screens and transitions happen at will, as do suddenly stylised establishing shots. Yet look at the content: this is a sensitively handled film, using actors with well-herded restraint. And if a director can make you tear up with this much sincerity, he must be on the right track.

It's a staggeringly sad film, but acknowledges light at the end of the tunnel. All you need is love, it sings out resolutely.

That, and maybe a good novel to take turns reading.

Rediff Rating:

Krazzy 4 - IndiaFM's Review

By Taran Adarsh for IndiaFm.com, Click Here for Original.


It would be wrong to slot KRAZZY 4 as a comedy. Sure, KRAZZY 4 remains faithful to the ongoing trend of providing laughs at the oddest of things, but it's more of a masala fare that's reminiscent of the 1980s cinema. Packaged in a modern avatar, of course.

A film like KRAZZY 4 is easy on your brains. It rests on a thin plot, but the makers have tried to package the proceedings with entertaining stuff from Scene A to Z. Sometimes it works, at times it doesn't. But the pros outweigh the cons in this case. Also, let's get one thing straight. This isn't path-breaking or ground-breaking cinema by any chance. It's targeted at the aam junta, not connoisseurs of cinema.

Also, one of the trump cards… sorry, make it two, are the dance numbers filmed on the two superstars -- SRK and Hrithik. Just these two numbers are enough to satiate the hunger of an avid moviegoer. Even the Rakhi Sawant track is an asset, since it's hugely popular with the desi junta [like 'Main Aayee Hoon U.P.-Bihar Lootne' and 'Beedi'].

In a nutshell, KRAZZY 4 isn't the kind of cinema that would invite debates or discussions. Its intention is to make people leave the cineplex with a smile and it succeeds in its endeavour.

Arshad Warsi is Raja: Truly the angry young man! His blood boils, his fists clench and he's ready to beat the daylights out of anyone who upsets him in some way.

Irrfan Khan is Dr. Mukherjee: He has decided that he's the Captain of the team! But so obsessed is he by the need to be in control of a situation, he doesn't realise he's totally lost control of himself and his mind.

Rajpal Yadav is Gangadhar: He's marching to a beat only he can hear; he's fighting for a cause that's long over. But in his mind he's still fighting for Swaraj.

Suresh Menon is Dabboo: He's everybody's pet and however far gone the rest may be, when it comes to Dabboo, everybody's protective. Even if he can hear and understand, Dabboo refuses to speak. And nobody knows why!

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Dr Sonali [Juhi Chawla] treats them all. She has faith that all it needs is a little time and lots of patience to make them part of the mad, mad, mad world out there…

Rakesh Roshan's story takes a leaf out of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, while Ashwani Dhir's screenplay tries to pack everything that's available on the shelf. The first hour is quite entertaining, with a few sequences compelling you to flex your facial muscles.

But the problem lies in its second hour. More specifically, the writing relies on the age-old stuff to reach the finale. Too many cinematic liberties have been undertaken in this hour, just to reach the culmination and it doesn't really work at times. Even the end outside the hospital looks contrived.

Jaideep Sen shows a flair for comedy, but had the debutante director opted for a slightly novel screenplay, it would've taken the film to another level. A few comic scenes are well executed and in terms of execution, Jaideep knows the grammar right.

Ashwani Dhir's screenplay may lack novelty, but the dialogues penned by him are witty and enjoyable. Cinematography is nice. Rajesh Roshan's music is up to the mark. The two tracks, filmed on the superstars, are top notch and what enhances the effect are the choreography and production design [of SRK track] and the visual effects [in Hrithik track].

Arshad Warsi is the best of the lot. His character is bound to work with the moviegoers. Irrfan's role doesn't offer him that much scope. Yet, the actor enacts his part with precision. Rajpal Yadav is quite funny at places. Suresh Menon is a surprise. He hardly utters one word in the film, but he delivers with expressions.

Juhi Chawla doesn't get ample opportunity. Dia Mirza is efficient. Zakir Hussain is okay. Rajat Kapoor is relegated to the backseat.

On the whole, KRAZZY 4 is slightly above the average mark, but the brand [Rakesh Roshan] coupled with the presence of the two superstars in its songs and of course, some great actors in comic roles should ensure positive returns at the box-office.

U Me Aur Hum - IndiaFM's Review

By Taran Adarsh for IndiaFm.com, Click Here for Original.

Aamir Khan has raised the bar with TAARE ZAMEEN PAR. Comparisons between Aamir and Ajay Devgan, who makes his directorial debut with U ME AUR HUM, would be erroneous, but you can't turn a blind eye to the fact that the viewer would expect an encore with U ME AUR HUM. Will U ME AUR HUM live up to the humungous hype and expectations? Does Devgan have the trappings of a fine storyteller? Oh yes, he does!

Let's come to the point right away. Devgan needs to be lauded for choosing a daringly different theme in his debut film and most importantly, doing justice to it, handling it with extreme care. We know him as a powerful actor, now there's yet another designation added to his name -- avant-garde director.

et's move on to the next query! Is the real-life couple -- Ajay and Kajol -- as dynamic yet again? The answer is, they're electrifying. Both pitch in bravura performances, reaffirming the fact that this jodi is amongst the finest of this generation.

One of the prime reasons why U ME AUR HUM works, and works big time, is because it's aimed at the heart. Anyone who's into relationships, anyone who believes in love, anyone who thinks from the heart, anyone who has watched his/her partner grapple a grave disease, will identify with a film like U ME AUR HUM.

To cut a long story short, U ME AUR HUM marks the birth of a powerhouse of talent. Watch U ME AUR HUM for various reasons, but most importantly, watch it for a new director who respects your 2.30 hours and the hard-earned bucks that you invest on watching his movie. It's time to fall in love with love… again!

The first time Ajay [Ajay Devgan] saw Pia [Kajol], she served him drinks. She affected him more than the alcohol, it was love at first sight. The first time Pia saw Ajay, he had a drink too many. She watched him make a fool of himself and was relieved when he passed out.

Ajay is on a cruise with his friends -- Nikhil [Sumeet Raghavan] and Reena [Divya Dutta], unhappily married, and Vicky [Karan Khanna] and Natasha [Isha Sharwani], happily unmarried. Ajay is having a wonderful time dealing with martial strife, lots of bad language and huge hangovers, when he finds Pia and time stands still.

After a disastrous first meeting, Ajay tries everything to woo her. He wants her, by hook, crook or even her little private notebook. She's not an easy catch at all, but finally, by sheer perseverance, he dances his way into her heart. Ajay and Pia develop a strong and special bond.

Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry. And Ajay-Pia love each other dearly, but no marriages can be complete without problems, and Ajay and Pia have also have to face hurdles. Kajol is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. How does the couple face the crisis?

The one thing you must carry when you set out to watch U ME AUR HUM is a kerchief. For, this film makes you shed a tear at times, cry at places and weep in at least two vital sequences. But it's not just rona-dhona that you get to see in U ME AUR HUM.

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The first hour, strictly average in terms of writing, has several sunshine moments. It's breezy, funny, at times silly, but interesting. What also catches your eye is the eye-filling cinematography [Aseem Bajaj in top form, yet again] on the cruise. The songs, the glam look, the subtle humor… you don't take to the film instantly, but you know for a fact that a volcano is brewing.

And the volcano does erupt in the second hour! Ajay Devgan, the director, shows his expertise in this hour as the story does an about-turn, exposing the delicate, sensitive and fragile relationships. Devgan reserves the best for the concluding reels and you finally get the answers in the end.

U ME AUR HUM is more of a director's film, than anyone else's. A theme like the one projected in this film could go dangerously haywire if entrusted in inept hands, but Devgan seems to have done his homework well. The only glitch is the length in its second hour. A shorter narrative would've only helped!

Robin Bhatt, Sutanu Gupta and Akarsh Khurana's screenplay casts a hypnotic spell in the second hour. Sure, the germ stems from THE NOTEBOOK [2004; James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Rachel McAdams], but the writers have altered the screenplay keeping Indian sensibilities in mind. It works! Ashwani Dhir's dialogues touch the core of your heart. Every spoken sentence has a meaning. Vishal Bhardwaj's music may not be a chartbuster, but it alternates between soulful and melancholic beautifully. Aseem Bajaj's cinematography is topnotch. Monty Sharma's background score is effective.

Now to the performances! U ME AUR HUM is like a medal that glimmers on Ajay Devgan's body of work. He's exceptional! Kajol, well, what can you say of an actress who has proved herself time and again? That she's undoubtedly the best has been proved yet again. Sumeet Raghavan is first-rate. Divya Dutta gets into the groove in the subsequent portions. Karan Khanna and Isha Sharwani are okay. Sachin Khedekar does a fine job. Aditya Rajput and Hazel get minimal scope.

On the whole, U ME AUR HUM is a well-made, absorbing love story that's high on the emotional quotient. And that holds tremendous appeal for ladies/families mainly. At the box-office, it's the kind of film that will gather more and more speed with each passing show. Its business at multiplexes should be fantastic. Overseas too should be excellent. Very strongly recommended!

Jodhaa Akbar - IndiaFM's Review

By Taran Adarsh for IndiaFm.com, Click Here for Original.

Let's get one thing straight: You haven't watched anything so opulent, so magnificent like this in a long, long time on the Hindi screen. It's not just body beautiful, but there's soul as well.

It requires courage, prowess, patience, aptitude, knowledge, passion and of course, loads of currency to attempt a movie like JODHAA AKBAR. But more than anything else, it requires your firm belief in the subject, the belief to attempt a historical when historicals are considered an absolute no-no in the industry, the belief to spend almost Rs. 40 crores in a film that could go either ways.

Only when you're convinced yourself can you convince millions of moviegoers. And convinced you are after watching JODHAA AKBAR, a film of epic proportions.

Now let's clear a few misconceptions pertaining to the film…

• It's blasphemous to compare MUGHAL-E-AZAM and JODHAA AKBAR. While MUGHAL-E-AZAM was primarily about the legendary romance between Salim and Anarkali, a subject that has been attempted quite a few times on the Hindi screen before, JODHAA AKBAR is about the relationship that the young Akbar shared with Jodhaa.



• A lot has been said and written about its length [3.20 hours]. Does the viewer of today have the patience to watch a really lengthy film in today's times? But once into JODHAA AKBAR, the sequence of events, the drama, the romance, the war… every aspect keeps you mesmerized. Oh yes, the length does pinch you at one crucial point [second hour, which is relatively shorter], when a song breaks out. Otherwise, the 3 + hours are very well spent.



• When you watch historicals like MUGHAL-E-AZAM and RAZIA SULTAN, the usage of chaste Urdu is difficult to comprehend at times. Not here! The language is simplified - Akbar speaks in Urdu, Jodhaa in Hindi - and it's easy to decipher.

As a cinematic experience, it would be wrong to compare JODHAA AKBAR to any of Ashutosh Gowariker's previous endeavors. Why, it would be erroneous to compare the film with any film ever made before in this genre. This one stands out and stands out the tallest.

To sum up, JODHAA AKBAR leaves you spellbound, enthralled, entranced and awestruck. Ashutosh Gowariker makes the legendary characters come alive on screen. Take a bow, Ashu!

Set in the sixteenth century, JODHAA AKBAR is a love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Little did Akbar [Hrithik Roshan] know that when he married Jodhaa [Aishwarya Rai Bachchan], he would be embarking upon a new journey -- the journey of true love.

The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer [Kulbhushan Kharbanda], Jodhaa resented being reduced to a mere political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar's biggest challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the love of this defiant princess.

One of the prime reasons why JODHAA AKBAR works is because the present-day viewer is unaware of the romance between Akbar and Jodhaa. Sure, we all know of Akbar as a great emperor, but the love story makes for a refreshing subject. And the execution of a number of sequences makes JODHAA AKBAR extremely special.

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Some instances:
* The war sequence at the very outset. You realize the scale and magnitude of the film at the very beginning.
* Hrithik taming an out-of-control elephant. It's hair-raising.
* The two pre-conditions set by Jodhaa, before her marriage to Akbar. Very interesting.
* The confrontation between Ila Arun and Ash at the kitchen, when Ash decides to make the meal herself.
* The immediate sequence, when Ash is asked to taste the food herself by Ila before she's about to serve the food to the Emperor and his associates. Once done, Hrithik demanding that he be served the meal from the same platter that Jodhaa had used.
* The intermission point, which sows the seeds of a misunderstanding between Hrithik and Ash.
* Post-interval, Hrithik returning to Amer to get Ash back to Agra and the welcome ceremony by his mother-in-law [Suhasini Mulay].
* The sword fight the very next morning, between Hrithik and Ash.
* The 'Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah' track, when the entire kingdom hails Hrithik.
* The fight in the climax [reminds you of the fight between Brad Pitt and Eric Bana in TROY].
Amazing moments indeed…

Ashutosh Gowariker knows that historicals have to be simplified while narrating on celluloid so that the moviegoer is able to grasp and comprehend the plotline and the sequence of events. Thankfully, JODHAA AKBAR is not in the least difficult to decipher. Gowariker's handling of the subject deserves the highest praise, for it's not everyday that you come across a film like JODHAA AKBAR.

A.R. Rahman's music is not the type that you take to instantly, but yes, it gels beautifully with the mood of the film. 'Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah' and 'Jashn-e-Bahara' are the best tracks in terms of tune. In terms of choreography, 'Azeem-o-Shaan Shahenshah' is awe-inspiring, while the execution of 'Khwaja Mere Khwaja' is outstanding. Rahman's background score is simply extra-ordinary.

There's no room for dullness in Haider Ali and Gowariker's screenplay. The writing is tight, the drama keeps you hooked and the romantic track is wonderful. The film also talks of secularism, an issue so vital in today's times. K.P. Saxena's dialogues are amazing. At places, soaked in acid. The writer comes up with several gems, yet again. Kiran Deohans' cinematography matches international standards. The movement of camera at various places, especially in the battlefield, is breath-taking. Also, the D.O.P. captures the grandeur to the fullest. The production design [Nitin Chandrakant Desai] is, again, awesome. Recreating the bygone era requires not just money, but also the vision and Desai proves his supremacy yet again.

Be it the war sequences or the sword fights or general action, Ravi Dewan's contribution to the film is incredible. Especially noteworthy is the fight between Hrithik and Nikitin Dheer in the climax. It's simply outstanding! Editing [Ballu Saluja] is perfect, although the romantic song between Hrithik and Ash can be shortened in the second hour. The costumes [Neeta Lulla] as also the jewelry also deserve special mention.

JODHAA AKBAR also works because of the right casting. It's difficult to imagine anyone else in the role of Emperor Akbar. Hrithik seems born to play this role and he enacts it with such precision, such flourish, such confidence that it leaves you asking for more. A mind-boggling performance without doubt!

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is superb. Oh yes, she looks ethereal -- a compliment she has heard a trillion times before. What's new in that? But watch her emote in this film. You realize the amazing talent that has hitherto not been tapped by any movie maker. A flawless performance indeed!

JODHAA AKBAR has a host of characters, but the ones whom you carry home, besides Hrithik and Ash, are Sonu Sood [excellent], Nikitin Dheer [fantastic], Ila Arun [electrifying; her finest work so far], Punam S. Sinha [graceful], Kulbhushan Kharbanda [perfect], Raza Murad [effective] and Rajesh Vivek [good]. Amitabh Bachchan's rich barritone voice adds lustre to the magnum opus.

On the whole, JODHAA AKBAR is, without a shred of doubt, a brilliant film in all respects. This historical has all it takes to prove the first blockbuster of 2008. Very strongly recommended!

Superstar - IndiaFM's Review

By Taran Adarsh for IndiaFm.com, Click Here for Original.

An actor enacting dual roles isn't new for Bollywood. Dilip Kumar [RAM AUR SHYAM], Rajesh Khanna [SACHCHA JHOOTHA], Amitabh Bachchan [SATTE PE SATTA], Hema Malini [SEETA AUR GEETA], Sridevi [CHAALBAAZ], Shah Rukh Khan [DUPLICATE], Salman Khan [JUDWAA]… over the years, a number of makers have woven stories around humshakals/twins.

SUPER STAR also takes a similar path. With Bollywood as the backdrop, SUPER STAR looks at greed taking over a person, who manipulates things to suit himself. An interesting idea without doubt and director Rohit Jugraj's execution lights the frames as well. In fact, it's a big leap for Jugraj, who started with JAMES; a number of sequences are definitely noteworthy.

But Jugraj and SUPER STAR surely deserved a tighter script and a better editor. The writing is erratic sporadically -- energetic at times, flaccid at places. As for the editing, either the editor fell in love with the filmed material and forgot all about editing or he had no say at all.

To sum up, SUPER STAR is a decent product, but it could've been notches above the ordinary had it taken care of a few hiccups.

Kunal [Kunal Khemu] defines the youth of today. He dares to dream of making it big in Bollywood one day.

Kunal wears the tag of a Bollywood struggler lightly, as he knows it is only a matter of time before he makes it into the big league. Until, that is, life decides to play a prank on him. The entry of the rich, debonair Karan [Khemu, in a dual role], in Bollywood as well as his life, crushes all of Kunal's dreams.

And suddenly, the struggler is transformed into a superstar. Public adulation and unwavering media attention, he receives it all. But the truth is something else…

A story like the one in SUPER STAR cannot do without a solid actor and Kunal Khemu handles the various shades with aplomb. In fact, his performance is the mainstay of the enterprise and he has the talent to hold the scene without making you feel restless.

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But there are times when the writing could've matched the efforts of Jugraj and Khemu. Take for instance the bonding that develops between the star and struggler. How do they become thick friends in the first place? Also, why doesn't the investigating journo [Zafar Karachiwala] telecast the truth, when he has already planted hidden cameras in Darshan Jariwala's house? Prior to that, Darshan Jariwala passes the MMS clip to a private channel. In the first place, how does he get hold of the clip and how would he gain if the clip was telecast days before his film is to hit the screens? The writers need to take a few lessons in screenplay writing for sure!

Also, as mentioned at the outset, the film could've done with better editing. Ideally, it can [and should] be trimmed by at least 20 minutes for a better impact.

Thankfully, Jugraj's handling of a number of scenes camouflages the defects, to an extent. A few portions involving Kunal as also the turning point in the tale, when Darshan Jariwala interacts with Kunal after he comes out of coma, are brilliant. The emotional speech in the climax is also convincing. Shamir Tandon's music is alright, but the placement of songs isn't right. Yet, in terms of composition, 'Do I Love You' and 'Ajnabi' are nice tracks. Cinematography is perfect.

Kunal is the lifeline of the show. His performance leaves you speechless! Tulip Joshi doesn't have much to do. Aushima Shwhney looks mature for Kunal. Darshan Jariwala is first-rate. Sharat Saxena leaves a mark, especially in the scene when Kunal comes visiting after the gruesome accident. Reema is good. Vrajesh Hirjee is effective. Zafar Karachiwala is a fine actor. Kishori Shahane deserved a better role. Anjan Srivastava gets a few scenes, which he performs well. Aman Verma too deserved a better part.

On the whole, SUPER STAR is a strictly average fare. At the box-office, don't expect much!

Mithya - IndiaFM's review

By Taran Adarsh for IndiaFm.com, Click Here for Original.

We're experiencing a whole new world in cinema. Themes that were considered abstract and offbeat are slowly making inroads into Bollywood. These films are a complete contrast to what we've been experiencing thus far. You could actually mistake it for European cinema in general and French cinema in particular. MITHYA, directed by Rajat Kapoor, is one of those films. Conceal the faces of the actors and you'd never believe it's a Hindi film.

In this case, MITHYA, you can't draw parallels with any film, past or present. That's because something like this has never been attempted before. And that happens to be the flip side as well, for MITHYA is not everyone's cup of tea, everyone's idea of entertainment. It caters to a niche audience, those with an appetite for 'different' cinema. It's for the discerning viewer that wants a change, who wants to watch a new story unravel on celluloid.

Seen individually, MITHYA is an experience you cannot forget easily. It leaves a solid impact, especially if you're receptive to out of the box experiences.

VK [Ranvir Shorey] has come to Mumbai, chasing big film dreams, like thousands of others. When fate makes him a pawn in a master game plan of the underworld, he unknowingly gets drawn into a whirlpool of events that will determine his future. Then an unexpected accident turns the tables for everybody involved.

Now begins a chase that won't stop at anything. VK is too deep into it now to step back. Unknowingly, he has become an imposter, an imposter who wasn't.

On script level, a film like MITHYA has layers and more layers and is indeed a complex theme to handle. Not everyone can attempt it, since a theme like this has to be handled very, very carefully, else it may boomerang. That's where an expert storyteller like Rajat Kapoor steps in.

You get instantly sucked into the struggler's world and gradually forget that you're a viewer. You become a bystander. You feel it's happening right there in front of your eyes, experiencing everything firsthand.

Please note that this piece has been reproduced from IndiaFm.com, Click Here for Original.

The best part of the script [writers: Saurabh Shukla, Rajat Kapoor] is that you cannot predict the next moment. Its unpredictability is its USP. The film moves about in a serpentine manner and as it reaches its culmination, you're emphathizing with the struggler, who started somewhere else and ended at an altogether different destination. That's destiny, isn't it?

But the best part is the concluding moments. The culmination to Ranvir's character -- the way it has been filmed -- leaves you stunned, speechless and of course, sad! Its execution cannot be described in mere words.

Director Rajat Kapoor takes a giant leap as a storyteller. If you understand cinema or are associated with it, you'd realize that MITHYA is more of a director's film, than an actor's. Although it's premature to talk at this juncture, but MITHYA should feature prominently in the 'Bests of 2008' when the year draws to a close. The writing too is topnotch. Ditto for the camerawork, which gives the film a cold, gloomy look.

Lavish praises must be reserved for Ranvir Shorey, who delivers an extra-ordinary performance in the central role. You've known him as a funster, now watch him in a role that you could never place him in. A brilliant performance! Naseeruddin Shah, as always, is hugely competent. Neha Dhupia is one of the most under-rated actors around. Watch her in this film as she slips into a role with such effortless ease. She deserves better roles for sure. Iravati is fantastic. Saurabh Shukla is first-rate. Harsh Chhaya excels. Vinay Pathak is relegated to the backseat this time; he's good. Brijendra Kala is excellent.

On the whole, MITHYA has the courage to tell one of the most novel stories we've ever watched on celluloid. Sure, it caters to the multiplex junta, but honestly, some films are beyond box-office and should just be lauded for the sheer strength of taking Hindi cinema beyond the stereotype.

Wait, here's a grievance. The promos give an impression that it's a comic fare. You may also believe that it's a laugh-riot in view of the fact that MITHYA comes from the BHEJA FRY team. It's not! The promos are misleading and ought to reflect the content to tap its potential.

Mithya - Rediff's Movie Review

By Raja Sen for Rediff.com, Click Here for Original.

Based more-or-less around the life of a Bollywood struggler, Rajat Kapoor's Mithya is a stern warning against the dangers of method acting. Not just are such performers liable to overdo the histrionics in their overreaching attempts at reality, but often -- while inhabiting another character's skin -- there exists the possibility that playing the damaged could make us equally so.

It's a sobering thought, more so even than the prospect of traipsing the spoiler-filled minefields to review a twisty thriller without giving away the plot. Mithya is an unpredictable ride, a rare film that authentically extracts most of its pleasure from all that you don't know just yet. Which is why I don't really want to tell you what happens.

Ranvir Sheorey plays VK, a Bollywood extra hailing from Noida, with uncommonly realistic actor ambitions. He might rehearse Hamlet with his bedspread for a cloak -- much to the annoyance of his neighbours -- but even his dreams don't contain moments of sunglass'd superstardom. He's content trying to siphon off a little extra from the production manager, and hopes he eventually gets a role with an actual line of dialogue.

For now, VK is content standing at his regular wine-shop and picking up his quarter-bottle of whiskey. He asks the shopkeeper for his free drinking glass, a demand made with the considerable ease (yet fastidiousness) of the more-than-occasional drinker -- leading us to believe he could likely be building up a set of these humble glasses. So sits the actor with fifteen years of on-stage experience, drinking cheap whisky sitting by the everyman splendor of the sea.

Then -- as they say in proverbs and bumper stickers with only the most minor of tonal variations -- stuff happens.

Starting off innocuously enough, this film is -- like the best of comedies -- about far more than the laughs scattered variously, and smartly, on the surface. Despite significant humour almost throughout, this qualifies as a bonafide thriller, a story with wheels within wheels that unfolds briskly enough -- the film weighs in at a crisp 100 minutes -- and yet gives you space to ponder. No mean feat, this.

Ranvir is given an extremely varied role, an acting job that requires adjustment at every other moment, having to flit constantly through mood and scale. Scared, dazed, inspired, romantic -- all often overlapping in a three-minute span. Wisely, the actor plays the character straight, never directly for laughs. Sheorey does very well indeed to capture the pain and the helplessness of the troubled protagonist, and winning sympathy is hard when audiences are busy chortling. He makes the character real, a common, believable man in an increasingly bizarre situation.

Sheorey's tag-team partner, the ever-reliable Vinay Pathak, is given a shorter role here, his often-amused Ram overshadowed by his comrade Shyam, played preciously by a hilarious Brijendra Kala.

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Kala, clearly a gifted actor, is a superb cog in the comedic ensemble, frequently stealing the scene with his unimpressive indignation. Saurabh Shukla and Naseeruddin Shah clearly enjoy riffing off each other, and Harsh Chhaya seems to be having fun with a somewhat Sonny Corleone (The Godfather) character. While Neha Dhupia doesn't have too much to do, Iravati Harshe enriches the film with a layer of heart.

As mentioned, this is a film with feeling. Filmmaker Rajat Kapoor toes the line -- between organically, necessarily Filmi and devastatingly Poignant -- gingerly yet wistfully, his shoes often falling behind a few steps more than absolutely necessary, therefore making his sympathies and allegiances crystal clear.

Like its protagonist, Mithya is a moody film, longing and lingering for more. It is a sharp film, mixing genres with unspectacular aplomb, and achieves possibly more than it set out to: sure it's a fun thriller, but in regard to the eventuality of the protagonist, it almost turns into a mystery movie.

Sure, there are flaws. The background score is more basic than a film written so neatly merits. Several establishing shots seem forced, as if a bunch of cutaways were glued together and called a scene. Occasionally, the mood-building and dreamscapes turn contrived. Post-interval, the film almost gives up the right to be called comic. Worst of all, the romance arc with Dhupia is hideously underdeveloped and premature, especially compared to Harshe's compelling character.

Yet, Mithya works. This isn't a film you're going to watch because of the sheer craft or the romance: you pay for a comic thriller and you get it -- and much more -- anchored in place by a very strong leading man and a director refreshing in an approach that refuses to try too hard. Go watch this: 2008 is yet young, but so far this is the year's best Hindi film.

A few weeks ago, a friend called to ask me for the Hindi word for Fiction. I racked my brains and -- after dismissing the significantly inadequate 'Imaginary/Make-Believe Story' -- decided that the closest I could come to was a word for Fabrication. It's somewhat disheartening to think of great novels and classic literature reduced to the word Lie, but what else is there? With efforts like Mithya, thankfully, Rajat shows that even an obvious lie can feel very real.

Rediff Rating: