Love Aaj Kal Movie Review

There are three reasons why you must catch Love Aaj Kal ASAP – dialogues, performances and music. Imtiaz Ali's tale of love, then and now is a light hearted and refreshing watch.

Burnout, commitment phobia, long distance relationships – issues the minus 30-generation can easily identify with, are subtly touched upon throughout the movie. Here's a film that actually talks the talk.

Like Socha Na Tha and Jab We Met, Imtiaz Ali's third film also rests on a wafer-thin plot. The director uses smart one-liners and life-like situations to take the story forward. Love Aaj Kal is about Jai (Saif Ali Khan) an urban, alpha male who can't understand the meaning of love. His girl friend Meera (Deepika Padukone) also believes in choosing career over romance. After a mutual breakup, Jai meets the grand old Veer (Rishi Kapoor). He narrates his own love story to give Jai a peak into old-fashioned romance. The conflicting approaches to love form the base of Love Aaj Kal.

The narrative runs in multiple timelines – which can get confusing sometimes. Imtiaz Ali uses a clever, non-linear edit pattern to draw parallels between his two stories. Saif Ali Khan is in home turf as Jai. Playing a role similar to Kal Ho Na Ho and Hum Tum, Saif is charming as ever with his wise cracks and mannerisms. However it's in the emotional sequences towards the end, where you realise how much he has matured over the years. Casting him as young Rishi Kapoor, is bit of a cinematic liberty. But it works in the context of the film - even though Khan's Punjabi is not very authentic. You can often sense the metrosexual Saif wanting to break out of the turban.

Deepika Padukone is the real surprise. Looking her best ever, Deepika delivers a surprisingly effortless performance. A scene where she checks herself out in the mirror before heading for a date is a gem of a moment. And yes! For the first time we discover that the girl knows how to cry. Rishi Kapoor is spontaneous as the romantic Sardar. Watch out for his surprise in the climax.

Imtiaz's dialogues are once again straight out of everyday conversations. The scenes between Rishi and Saif are bound to remind you of the advice your dad gives you about settling down in life. As a technician Imtiaz shows shades of Yash Raj romances. Pritam's stupendous score adds tremendous value to the film, making the proceedings even livelier.

Any minuses? Yes! The second half could have been 20 minutes shorter. Also, while the easy pace of the film works for the theme, it often tends to get slow. This film wastes little time in the boy meets girl part and is quick to get to the point. But the point could have been made in under two hours.

On the face of it a lot of sequences appear shallow. Unlike Jab We Met where the comic portions and dramatic ones were distinctly spelt out, here the emotions are pretty understated. There's a lot of depth in the seeming light hearted portions. It's a multiplex film in the truest sense of the word.

Verdict: Love Aaj Kal is not perfect. But in one of Bollywood's dullest years, this one comes as a refreshing ray of hope. It's bound to bring a smile on your face. Here's a film with both head and heart.

Rating: 4 Stars on 5

Luck Movie Review

Mafia king pin Kareem Musa (Sanjay Dutt) takes the game of betting to an altogether different level by involving humans as betting objects who are made to fight their own luck to survive. Every year his trusted aide Tamang (Danny) assembles for him in South Africa, 20 participants handpicked from across the globe who have a proven record of extreme luck. Betters across the globe put their money on them through Musa’s syndicate. During the new season, amongst the participants are Ram (Imran) a white collar job youth who is hell bent on earning big money to compensate the huge fraud his scamster father was reason for, Ayesha (Shruti) who has her own personal agenda, Retd. Col Singh (Mithun) who desperately needs money for his wife’s operation, Shortcut (Chitrashi) a Pakistani camel racer girl who dreams of buying a Lexus with the prize money and Raghav (Ravi Kissen) a serial murderer. What happens after these participants are put into extremely dangerous life taking games of luck and who manages to win the big jackpot amongst them forms the rest of the film.

Luck begins with an exciting opening sequence that gets your heart in your mouth watching a blindfolded Dutt cross the multiple railway lines with trains running around in fast speed. Soham Shah shows tremendous progress as a technician with Luck. He succeeds in getting you all hooked throughout the first half. However, in the second half the pacing drops in between but then picks up yet again towards the pre-climax. Soham and Rensil D’Silva’s screenplay strikes the perfect balance between a slick action thriller and a mass entertainer. Dialogues are citeee worthy at places. The film may have its share of criticizers who need to understand that it’s a different genre altogether and that it should not judged with the same parameters of a realistic film or a feel good entertainer. Luck is edgy stuff. Soham also scores big points in his casting of the veterans. It is almost after 20 years that the trio of Dutt-Mithun and Danny has come together for any film. They were last cast together in Jeete Hain Shaan Se (1988). However, the climax could have been more effectively shot and culmination slightly less over the top. Editing and Camerawork is excellent. Salim-Suleiman’s music is racy and goes perfectly with the film. Amar Mohile’s background score is effective. Hari Dwarak’s sound design is excellent.

Amongst the actors, sadly the young brigade disappoints whereas the veterans shine big time. Imran Khan though earnest, is most of the times expressionless. Kamal Haasan’s daughter Shruti Haasan has a striking screen presence but needs a crash course in dialogue delivery. Sanjay Dutt has achieved a mastery of sorts of playing the big hearted ‘bhai’ and here too he is in his safe zone. Dutt appears super chilled out and enjoying himself. Mithun Chakraborty is extremely impressive. Danny is a scene stealer in many sequences. It is great to see the veteran actor back in top form in a very meaty role. Ravi Kissen is terrific. Chitrashi Rawat is good. Snita Mahey playing Dutt’s team member is super hot.

Verdict: The script of the film relies too much on coincidental luck. Director Soham Shah rubs too hard on luck but at the same time stresses on the adage that ‘the only thing certain about luck is it’s going to change’. On that thought here’s wishing him better luck next time!

Rating: 3 Stars on 5

Best Wishes Anjali on your Birthday …

May your birthday bring

You as much happiness

As you give to everyone

Who knows you

Happy Birthday

*

A greeting on your birthday

For a very happy day

And then a year

That brings the best

Of everything your way

Enjoy your special day!

*

You’re always very special

And you should know today

That you are wished the nicest things

That life can bring your way

Like warm and loving wishes

And happiness and cheer

And everything you need to start

Another happy year

*

This brings a wish for all

The best a day and year

Can bring, for someone

Who should always have

The best of everything!

Have a Happy Birthday

And a wonderful year!

*

Here’s a Birthday greeting

Especially to show

How much you mean

Although you surely must know

That without a doubt

There’s no-one nicer than you

Or anyone dearer

To wish Happy Birthday to

*

From morning till night

May your birthday be bright

And nicer than ever before……

And as years come and go

May your happiness grow

And your dreams be fulfilled

Even more

Happy Birthday to you!

How fortunate I am

To have a sister like you

Your love shows through

In all that you do

So much of yourself

You have given to me

Asking nothing in return

But a good person I be

You taught me values

Those are important in life

Your guidance for me

Have always been right

I love you so much

Just had to convey

My love for you in

These words that I say

“Happy Birthday Anju Kutty"

May Allah shower blessings on you… Many More Happy Returns of the Day Anjali...

Love Always Haseem

New York Movie Review

The year has been virtually empty when it comes to film releases. Those that managed to get released before the strike were all major disappointments and the year has been so far not good. The first half of 2009 has almost got over and now we finally have a film that one can look forward to, New York. The film’s subject matter is known to everyone and this film is not a typical entertainer. When a production house like Yashraj makes a film like this it is bound to get a bit commercialized. What matters though is that does the core subject matter of the film get lost under the glossy outside.

The answer to that question is no. Kabir Khan is an intelligent film maker and he had proved that in Kabul Express. This time he re-confirms it. He has made sure that the big cast and budget do not affect the film in any way and affect it only in a positive way. The positive that I see is that when big names and big stars get associated with such a subject the message that the story aims to send reaches a far wider audience than what it would have in case of a smaller budget film .

Talking of film, it starts off in a great way and comes straight to the point. There’s no circumlocution and the director makes his point clear right in the beginning that this ain’t no usual masala entertainer. The introduction of characters on screen is one of the most powerful I’ve seen in recent times barring few scenes that were a little similar to some in past. The song “Junoon” has been Brilliantly used for this task and I could have never imagined that it would be used in this way. The small love angle that is there in the film is there just for some roughly 20-25 minutes in the beginning and that too done in a very swift and neat way. Time passes by in the film pretty fast and it takes no time for the director to come right from 1999 to 2008. The whole introduction part has been done in a very fresh and brilliant way. The friendship of all the three characters has been portrayed in a very subtle manner and it is not in your face. They become friends just like normal people do, presentation might be a bit different and large . The emotional connect with the main characters gets established in this part and I must again say Kabir has done this job fabulously.

Once that connect is established, the film gets right down to business and talks of life after 9/11 for an average Muslim person in America. The film moves about in a very fast and a bit thrilling way. It talks about the inhuman torture that the non-american prisoners have to bear in the prison cells and how it got even brutal after the 9/11 attacks. Kabir and the actors have very well understood and felt the subject and carried it off brilliantly on screen. There is this small character of guy who has been traumatised by the treatment he gets for no fault of his own. He is just brilliant. Though a really small part but when he speaks about what happened with him, it shakes you to the core. The actor has done a top quality job for this small part and he has the strongest part apart from the main cast. This is one character that you would remember for a long time even after the film ends.

I don’t want to give out many details from the story as it is treated in a way that it would be better if you know them as you watch the film. The little bit of suspense that Kabir has kept has been done in a nice way in the film. The film’s story unfolds in a really nice way and it manages to hold attention of the viewer throughout the film. The first half of the film ends strongly and manages to hold the interest of the viewer and keep it alive for the second half.

If majority of the first half is seen through Omar’s (Neil) eyes then second half has Sam’s (John) view of things . The second half starts afresh and the story moves forward from there and doesn’t creep slowly towards the end. The serious tone of the film continues here too and it is this part where the director aims to send out his view on the things and also the message of the film .Though the tone of the film is a bit serious still it makes sure that it also entertains. The way story moves, the end is a bit expected yet the director manages to surprise a bit here too and executes it in an almost perfect manner. The end comes at a proper time and again comes at a swift pace. The film doesn’t have any emotional drama yet the emotional connect with the characters is good. Kabir proves his point that one doesn’t need long emotional dialogues to establish that connect.

The cast of the film is also great and they all look good together. The friendship of the characters has been portrayed in a very fresh and good way. Katrina, John and Neil look great on-screen together and a good friendly love film can be made using this chemistry. But I guess it won’t look as fresh the second time as it did in this one. Too bad that this film has none of that and has only small trailer of what could have been full length Yashraj feature film. The innocence of their friendship and their characters add a lot to the film and make the point of the film even stronger. The young characters of the film also make sure that the message goes out straight to the young people of our country or as Pepsi calls it, the Youngistaan.

Talking of acting, everybody has done a great job and even Katrina who is accused to be a mere show girl does her part well. John and Neil both have felt the characters in the script and acted out them well. Irfan needs no compliments and he is great as usual. His character is also an important one. The small kid that is there in the film is also great and his really short part is also good.

Music of the film is also good and it has been brilliantly used by Kabir. He has made sure that almost through every song the story keeps moving and the songs don’t hinder the pace of the film. In fact the songs have been used in such a way that they add to the film in so many ways. The background score by Julius Packam is great and only in some parts it could have been a bit different. The cinematography by Aseem Mishra is great and he shows new york in a great way. While watching the film I realised that the trailer of the film had been cut in a really brilliant manner and kudos to Kabeer and his team for that. The editing of the film by Rameshwar Bhagat is also good and film is very brisk in nature and moves about at a constant rate.

Verdict: In all, it’s a great film and you need to see it to believe it. The script of the film is great and when script is great things generally tend to fall in place automatically. The director Kabir Khan has done a really good job and he needs to be applauded for making a film on this subject. I don’t like Aditya’s decisions mostly but I respect him for supporting this film and also providing Kabir with a good budget to make it. He should support films like this and look forward and if not many then at least make one such film a year. Kabir is a good film maker and I am now looking forward to his next project, I hope it is also a good one. I would recommend this film to everyone and it is high time that we support good and subject oriented cinema no matter who produces it. If this film works on the box office which I am sure it would then many producers would dare to support such projects and not go for the usual masala entertainers.

Rating: 3 & ½ stars on 5

Best Wishes Sohana on your Birthday …

You're more to me than my sister

You are also my best friend

You're always there for me

For an ear or a shoulder to lend

You're the one to hear of my joys

It's you I go to if I've had a bad day

I love you more than I have words

To express myself or say

Many More Happy Returns of the Day Soha :)

Because today's so special

it really wouldn't do,

to send one simple birthday wish

to last the whole year through...

So this wishes happy moments,

a day when dreams come true,

and a year that's filled with all the things

that mean the most to you.

*

Hope all that you do

Turns out happy for you

And all that you wish

Comes your way,

So each hour will bring

Every wonderful thing

You could ask of a wonderful day

*

May your birthday bring

You as much happiness

As you give to everyone

Who knows you

Happy Birthday Soha

*

A greeting on your birthday

For a very happy day

And then a year

That brings the best

Of everything your way

Enjoy your special day!

*

You’re always very special

And you should know today

That you are wished the nicest things

That life can bring your way

Like warm and loving wishes

And happiness and cheer

And everything you need to start

Another happy year

*

This brings a wish for all

The best a day and year

Can bring, for someone

Who should always have

The best of everything!

Have a Happy Birthday

And a wonderful year!

*

Here’s a Birthday greeting

Especially to show

How much you mean

Although you surely must know

That without a doubt

There’s no-one nicer than you

Or anyone dearer

To wish Happy Birthday to ma Sweet Akka

*

From morning till night

May your birthday be bright

And nicer than ever before……

And as years come and go

May your happiness grow

And your dreams be fulfilled

Even more

Happy Birthday to you Soha!

May Allah shower blessings on you… Many More Happy Returns of the Day Sohana Akka...

Love Always Haseem & Fathima