C J

I give this movie a thumbs up only because it held my attention for more than 20 minutes ( which is more than what I can say about any 'b'ollywood 'hit' film ) A finely etched study of the varying dynamics between different members of the same family, manipulations, secrets & personal motivations that drive diplomacy, keeping-up-appearances, politics & power-play between in-laws, family friends & business partners. Zoya Akhtar was doing well until she botched the end of the movie weakly in a schmaltzy finish. Anushka Sharma's weak character was easily overshadowed by both Priyanka Chopra's sensitive portrayal of Ayesha Mehra ( a successful woman trapped in an arranged marriage, bullied by her father ) & Shefali Chaya's dignified rendering of Neelam Mehra, (a seething lady who's bravely coping with a serial philanderer for a husband & facing life with a stiff upper lip).

This film has one of the poorest screenplays ever written & is a demonstration of how expensive sets/costumes/special effects don't make up for low/poor content. I expected this film to be better than Sanjay Leela Bhandali's take on Romeo & Juliet (Ram-Leela), which wasn't bad ... but my expectations were subverted here ! Deepika Padukone & Shahid Kapoor suddenly seem to have completely lost the ability to act, apart from keeping dead pan faces with unfocused eyes, which they probably thought passes for looking regal. But Kapoor can act ... I've seen his work in Vishal Bhardwaj's stellar film 'Haider'. So I can attribute his sudden inability to act in 'Padmaavat' to SLB's abysmal directorial prowess ? Padukone & Kapoor's makeup was unattractive & distracting ... Kapoor looked unappealing with his eye makeup while Padukone's unibrow-like-5 o'clock shadow & her high bindi kept terrorizing me. Ranveer Singh is the only one who managed to act on his craft in this film, escaping the zombiedom afflicting Padukone & Kapoor. The script is chock full of cringeworthy juvenile assertions like 'Rajputon ki shaan' & the nuclear war level abilities & belligerence of Mewar/Chittor ... made my toes curl more than the '80's film heroes who dropped pearls like 'main tera khoon pi jaaonga'. A vacuous film with what's possibly the thinnest plot ever, a juvenile script, pea-brained screenplay & indolent direction. Watch it for the costumes, jewellery & Ranvir Singh ... there's nothing else to savour here.

Award winning author Shaukat Vashist's last work has been widely panned by critics leaving him frozen with writer's block for over 2 years. A new colleague Yash, who gets attracted to his lovely wife Antara, rekindles Shaukat's inspiration unexpectedly propelling him to write again . Working from home, Shaukat benignly encourages Antara's workplace-friendship with Yash (who's unaware that Antara is married). In his heart, Shaukat wants Antara to make the right choice & be faithful to him, though intellectually he has presented her with options ... & he himself ends up getting caught in the suspense of what Antara will do & how far she will go ( though he isn't admitting that to himself. To admit that is akin to powerlessness, to Shaukat, esp. since he's regained control of his writer's block by rising from the ashes as an all-powerful-author who is 'orchestrating' events , by his ability to predict human behaviour) In the long run however this suspense begins to takes its toll on Shaukat & partially unhinges him. He thinks that he can cope with the possibility that Antara may choose Yash over him by staying ahead of the story in real time with his clairvoyant-like-predictions, thus granting himself a false sense of control over the outcome ( he thinks if he can't control Antara's free will, he can control the narrative with his superiority as an insightful author & thus give her permission by proxy - his ultimate illusion of control ) This is where his chief concern about curing his writer's block & rejuvenating his career is quickly overshadowed by his carefully concealed anxiety, over the outcome of the love triangle involving Yash ( although Shaukat is elegantly blasé about it outwardly ) The two concerns get interwoven. Finally, the story he's writing is the one where Antara's rejection of Yash crushes him to the point where Yash kills himself - this was to be Shaukat's magnum opus as an author (& his validation as Antara's only true love). But in reality, Yash handled the rejection maturely, subverting Shaukat's expectations & ultimately precipitating his complete unhinging by making Shaukat confront his lack of Merlin-like-control over circumstances & outcomes. Zayed Khan suffered from a poorly written script. Ms. Rai's performance was subpar. Mr.Dutt manages to carry the entire film on his own & has done very well. ( The scene where Shaukat cuts his wife's hair, beats Robert Redford washing Meryl Streep's hair in Sydney Pollack's 'Out of Africa' as one of the most tender scenes in movie history. )

Not happy with the departures from the book ... Catherine Earnshaw never fornicated with Heathcliff in the book nor kissed him on the mouth - esp. not as a married lady. So horrible that what people are desensitized to in the 21st century ( fornication ) has been written into the script. Can't people today comprehend a love ( improper as it was ) that excludes physical immorality ?

At the end of the first season , an insecure, scruffy Carrie dumps the urbane, sophisticated Mr. Big ( who's completely out of her league ) when she couldn't prematurely beat a commitment out of him. She tells herself , " I do have faith, faith in myself, faith that I'll one day meet someone who will be sure that I'm the one " Such an empowering, positive statement. Bravo. And her prediction comes true. That someone was Aidan Shaw. The perfect man. A gentleman, loving, committed, sweet, independent, supportive, undemanding, uncomplicated ... the whole package. A sweetheart. And what does Carrie do when she finds the perfect man, who's sure that she's the one for him ? She Cheats On Him. [ Also, she lies to him ( about her smoking ), gets irritated with him, commits adultery ,then pursues Aidan again & breaks his heart - twice ... ] Lol. Carrie Bradshaw is a pathetic, brand conscious loser. The series is still highly watchable & an engrossing one.

Javier Bardem ruined a Bond movie & he came back to sound the death knell for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as well. All the make up & special effects of Hollywood couldn't mask his abysmal performance. And he's ridiculously listed above the talented Geoffrey Rush in the credits ! Frankly, Barbossa's pet Capuchin was a better actor than Bardem. Barbossa, Davy Jones & Sparrow are the jewels of the films ( even the bad ones ) Missed Bill Nighy & Tom Hollander ...

Adapted from Malayalam film, Razzaq's,'Perumazhakalam' ( Monsoon season ), this beautifully shot movie is set with arid & beautiful Rajasthan as the backdrop . Zeenat (Gul Panag) , a self-reliant Muslim lady , travels from Himachal Pradesh to Rajasthan on a desperate mission to get Meera ( Ayesha Takia ) a cloistered Hindu haveli bahu, to sign a 'maafinaama' that will stay her husband's execution in the Middle East . Zeenat is so tranquil that her composure belies her precarious situation while newly-widowed Meera flits around in the background of her in-laws' haveli like a fragile shadow . Apart from the major themes of forgiveness , friendship & other philosophies , the most riveting one was of the dark tentacles of exploitation creeping up around a financially dependant widow , illustrated by Meera's father-in-law, Raghubir ( Girish Karnad ) , a seemingly dignified , mustachioed patriarch ; who, inspite of all his external appearances turns out to be a weak , sleazy man who secretly agrees to barter the lovely Meera to lascivious factory owner Chopra ( Nagesh Kuknoor ) for financial recompense . One of the most arresting scenes was of Raghubir seizing Meera by her elbow ; who inspite of her vulnerability & powerlessness , calmly orders Raghubir to release her arm , since she'd granted only his son ( her dead husband ) the right to touch her & not Raghubir . Apart from Ayesha Takia's fragile-as-dried-petals & yet incorruptible & hard-as-crystal portrayal of Meera & Gul Panag's self - reliant yet vulnerable grace of Zeenat ; other notable roles are rendered by Uttara Baokar ( Dadima ) & Shreyas Talpade, a charming, petty thief who accompanies Zeenat on her journey . A poetic & moving film.

At first I found this film slightly odd . The second time , this little gem of a film , grew on me as a wonderfully eccentric , subtle comedy with well written characters . Omi Khurana ( the very handsome Kunal Kapoor ) returns from London in debt after going missing for a decade from his loving paternal grandfather's ( Daar ji - Vinod Nagpal ) ancestral home in Punjab . His return delights his paternal aunt Lata ( Seema Kaushal ) & his cousin Jeet , but is viewed correctly with quiet suspicion by his Father's younger brother , his perceptive & dignified uncle Hemraj ( Rajendra Sethi ) . Another person perturbed with Omi's return is his childhood sweetheart , Harman ( Huma Qureshi ) who is a local physician now - but at heart , is still the unpolished , delinquent school girl who's cut out of the same cloth as the shady Omi . While Omi is blase about how he left Harman , she is secretly still in love with him - an affection she is wary of & tries to curb at first , with her assessment of Omi's true character & the bad influence he wielded on her in their school days . While Omi lies about being an affluent Ferrari-driving lawyer who lives near the Buckingham palace , with the Mittals as neighbours ( a lie readily accepted by his aunt Lata , Jeet & Lata's eccentric brother,Titu - but not his Uncle Hemraj ) he conceals from his family that he's really there to rob them again to erase his debt to London gangster , Shanty . Harman's dirty-dancing brother Lovely, who runs a store selling undergarments & is trying to become a real estate agent, brings Omi an offer of INR one crore from unintentionally funny , dhaba owning rival , Kehar Singh ( Vipin Sharma ) for Daar ji's famous dhaba & the recipe for Daar ji's secret 'chicken Khurana'. Omi is stumped since the recipe is known only to Daar ji , who is now , old , adorable & recognizes no one but a crow - whom Daar ji believes , is the love of his life, his beautiful , dead wife Muskaan ( Omi's grandmother ) & keeps singing to the scruffy black crow besides absent-mindedly & hilariously , responding in 'dhaba style' to people , "tandoori or makhani ?" etc . Apart from the delightful Kehar Singh ( whose idea of insulting Lovely & his merchandise , was to call him a " kabootar " & that " 6 din mein ched ho jaatein hain tere underwear mein " ) other memorable characters are Daar ji's cousin,'bua ji' , a pot-smoking god woman; Dalidri, the loving man-servant who considers himself a family member ; Titu Mamaji , the eccentric scooter-riding uncle who sleeps on the terrace , carries a radio , wears an undershirt everywhere , complains about his sister Lata's bad cooking & is suspicious of Jeet's sexual orientation ; Manty , Shanty's gun-wielding enforcer who follows Omi to Punjab & gets hilariously gets homesick for his 'pind' & his 'bebe'. This is a delightful film which stands up well to repeated viewings & has some ribald songs & a lovely background score . Good direction & editing . Well written script.

There is no authentic/ honourable love in this film . Just two irresponsible adults ( John Cusack & Kate Bekinsale ) who are addicted to melodrama ,and unethically use fate / destiny as a lame excuse to be dishonest with their own current partners ( John Corbett & Bridget Moynahan ) who are engaged to them & are in the dark about being back-stabbed . A devious & immoral film , masquerading as a charming search for love .

A hilarious film ! The three lead actors , Imran Khan, Vir Das , Kunal Roy Kapoor have rendered nearly flawless, crisp performances. Vijay Raaz has played a suave, droll villain - very amusing . The script, direction and editing is on the money. A refreshing & very 'unbollywood' like movie. Wish to see more films like this one from the Indian fim industry. Be warned-foul language in the film . ( Frankly , the censored version of the film is a lot less funny than the original one )