Chinmay Bhat

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This film Bombed at the box office, was an embarrassment for Yashraj & Akshay Kumar, my take is how will a film do good business when you don't have a proper story, the other thing is, it is observed that epic war dramas made by Bollywood don't do well at the box office because most people have studied History in school & they know the outcome of the battle, they know the Historic character who is glorified in the movie has actually lost the battle in real life, so if the makers distort history to show a loser as a winner then that does not go down well & people don't want to see something they already know, the script of Samraat Prithviraj was very poor, it was about 2 battles fought, we know the outcome & the brutality with which Prithviraj Chauhan & his followers were killed by Mohommed Ghouri, it was funny to see Samraat Prithviraj's death scene the arrows sticking from his back as he falls on a bed of arrows like Bhishma the grandsire of our divine Epic Mahabharata even the war sequence was not worth watching, in fact, there is nothing much to say

RAW film with ISI mark ** averaged The film is about four Raw operatives who are on a mission to Pakistan to capture Goldman Iqbal India’s most wanted criminal master mind who has his involvement in terror activities, a plot similar to the 2005 multi starrer Elaan. I will rate it as an averaged movie, it shows how Raw agents who are assigned task by their seniors have to put their own life at risk as well as sacrifice their personal interest for the success of the mission. The film also shows that such missions don’t have the backing of the Indian government and at the same time Raw officials have personal differences, the film also shows how Pakistan’s ISI houses fugitive criminals from India and use them to execute terror activities against India, the betrayal part of both ISI and Raw can also seen in the film where both try to eliminate their pawns in order to save their face in front of the international community, however there are certain parts in the film that you will find unrealistic like the security system in cities as well as at the borders of Pakistan which is shown too weak that the four raw agents are roaming and living freely in a hotel when their photos are flashed on television and newspapers, the other big glitch is it is not possible to launch a fresh attack within a few days after the initial attack failed that also on a VIP who is shown living in Karachi’s high security zone. As far as the actors are concerned Shruti hasan plays a prostitute and has some steamy scenes with Arjun Rampal after which she had little work to do, new comer Aakash Dahiya is shown as a gangster turned Raw agent and has a pivotal role in the film, the story of Wali khan (irfan Khan) was touching as he had to spend almost 9 years in Pakistan during which he is married to a Pakistani woman and has a son, Huma Qureshi who also plays the role of a Raw agent has done justice to her role, while Arjun Rampal ‘s role is similar to the one he did in the 2005 film Elaan the only difference is he survives .Rishi Kapoor has been in news for doing some amazing work as a villain in Agneepath and Aurangzeb even in D Day he has done well but the script doesn’t project a strong character, like when the Character Rudrapratap Singh played by Arjun Rampal holds him at gun point he dares him to shoot right away and threatens him with dire consequences if he survives but after surviving the attack the script does not show him doing anything great to show his notorious side. People of our country are very inquisitive to know what type of life these fugitive dons live and Nikhil Advani is successful in showing the lighter and softer side of the Don where he wants to attend his son’s wedding at any cost, at the same time he is worried about the fact that the man who pointed the gun at him is still alive (after all even an underworld don is a Human being). He believes that money can buy everything. I will suggest it is a onetime watch movie and give **

Review of the film The Light Swami Vivekananda *** It will be difficult to recall when the last film based on spirituality was made, so ultimately we have a film made on a modest budget based on the life of Swami Vivekananda, which I will call as a brave attempt by Tri colour production. We all have read in our history books that Swami Vivekananda was a genius but through the film one can see that even he was not different from any other ignorant human being but he learned from his mistakes and experience of life and ultimately attained enlightenment, the film shows how even by denouncing worldly desires he played an important role in nation building by propagating good ideas and thoughts. The film tells the importance of a preceptor who can bring change in life of a person who has lost all hopes. However I feel that it was essential that the filmmakers should have highlighted his quick learning skills for which he was known for not only in his college days but throughout his life. Premankur Chattopadhyay who played the role of Ram Krishna Paramhans had a small role to play but did a very good job. Essaying Swami Vivekananda is a big challenge at the same time the job of the casting director also becomes difficult because the actor should have a resplendent face and at the same time while acting he should sound like a genius, Deep Bhattacharya, looked every inch like Swami Vivekananda but was sounding ordinary when it came to dialogue delivery, even the dialogues were not impressive, we all know Professor John Henry Wright had invited Swami Vivekananda to speak at the Chicago conclave despite knowing the fact that Swamiji did not have valid credentials and it is a known fact that while addressing the issue of credentials Professor Wright had said "To ask for your credentials is like asking the sun to state its right to shine in the heavens". Now This is such a big compliment that any ordinary person won’t get so it was essential that the film makers should have done more research about the conversation between the two that urged the Professor to give such a big compliment. The part of the film where Swamji’s south Indian followers are shown speaking in chaste Hindi with South Indian accent sounds really weird, it would have been better had they shown them starting in south Indian Language and then continuing it with a Narrator’s voice over. Music was melodious and was able to create a spiritual atmosphere. It was evident that the film was made with a modest budget that’s why shooting were not done at real location but that was fine because spending money and only to find poor turnout of audience would have incurred heavy losses to the producers. Yes that is true the current generation is not keen in following cinema based on spirituality, so I feel it was really a brave attempt and don’t be surprised that I have given this film *** stars because it will add to the confidence of filmmakers who are interested in making films on real heroes.

Review on the film no one killed Jessica After watching the movie I couldn’t hold my thoughts. It is a wonderful contribution to Indian cinema by UTV motion and I give full credit to Rajkumar Gupta for making such a wonderful movie. The many USP of the film is the title NO one killed Jessica The case reopens on 7th January the tag line is itself enough to create a mass appeal. The film shows that how the common man has to run from pillar to post to get justice had how the rich and powerful use their power and influence to turn witness hostile. The film also shows how corruption is deeply rooted in our system. The dialogue that touched my heart was the one said by vidya balan “is a glass of drink more costly than my sister’s life”. From the film one thing that can be understood is the fact that it really takes long for a person to get justice in our country (as the incident happened in the year 1999 when technologies like mobile phones, laptops were not common in our country and by the time justice is done in 2006 we see in the film how sms campaigns are conducted and vidya balan using a laptop, it gives a clear message that justice is as costly as these gadgets. The director is successful in highlighting the role of the media which goes out of the way by means of sting operations to expose the culprits and how it appeals to the nation to launch a mass movement. So over all a nice movie to watch and I was really happy because there was good female attendance in the theaters. However there is always space for improvement 1) I personally feel that the canvas of the film should have been increased by elaborating on the court proceedings before and after the media intervention. 2) I feel the director gave a lot of stress on profanities, it was very evident when Rani used f***& b*** frequently. 3) To show the impact of the movement led by the media which led to the conviction of Manu Sharma the film maker should have shown that even the family of the Defense Lawyer was not in favor of their father defending Manu Sharma (there was news that children of Ram Jethmalani were not happy that their father was representing Manu Sharma.) but over all a good movie to watch. My thanks to UTV motions and MR Rajkumar Gupta for this brilliant piece of work.

Satyagraha a movement that can be ignored It was the usual Prakash Jha movie, his typical style of creating curiosity through the promos which includes all the power packed dialogues that are there in the film in order to bring the people to the cinema halls. The film starts with the ideological difference between ex Principal and social Thinker Dwarka Anand played by Amitabh and Manav Raghavendra played by Ajay Devgan who is an ambitious youth and the friend of his only son, the film highlights the corruption involved in the society be it in the infrastructure projects or in any other public welfare scheme and politicians considering Politics as business, by seeing the promos everybody felt that it is based on the Anna Hazare movement to which Prakash Jha had denied , in fact the incidents that are shown during the movement in the film are taken from various agitations that have taken place in India. In this film we got an opportunity to see a different leader in Ajay Devgan, unlike in Yuva where Ajay Devgan played the role of a dynamic youth leader in this film you will see a leader in Ajay who makes a lot of mistakes and sounds confused and silly at times, Kareena Kapoor who plays the role of a news correspondent is hardly shown doing lengthy coverage’s, she doesn’t sound like a news correspondent and I don’t think any journalist will take active part in an agitation without putting in her or his papers , in fact Deepal Shaw who played the role of correspondent in A Wednesday had then done a better than her. Arjun Rampal looks like a ambitious leader but the character gets overshadowed by the character played by Ajay Devgan, there was a need to think while filming certain scenes, like due to the efforts of Ajay Devgan and Arjun Rampal Amithabh is released from jail but while addressing the gathering Amithabh accepts Ajay as his son whom he once considered selfish but ignores the other prodigal son in Arjun Rampal whom he had rusticated from school for misbehavior, similarly when Amithabh sits on a fast and addresses the crowed , the crowd shouts “ Daduji Amar Rahe” a slogan given when a mass leader has passed away. Amrita Rao plays the role of Amitabh’s daughter in law who is a widow has very limited dialogues and is hardly noticed, though Manoj Bajpai has done well with his part, but the role was not that great, I will call it a waste of talent. I will give this film * (one star)

Review of the film Madras Café * We again have a film related to national security and Covert operations of India’s external agency RA&W, in which John Abraham plays the role of an Indian Army officer who is assigned task of breaking the backbone of the Tamil Separatist in Sri Lanka by India’s Research Analysis Wing. Actually to have a film on the subject was expected as well as essential because unlike today, things were different in the 90s, we did not have a powerful 24/7 media then and the people of the country woke up on 22/05/1991 with a shock to know that ex Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in a powerful blast at Sriperumbudur in Chennai. The film is about the armed civil war between the Sinhalese Sri Lankan government and the separatist Tamils and how it impacted India due to influx of Tamil refugees and subsequently forcing the Prime Minister to intervene and send a peace keeping force to Sri Lanka with a motive to end the war. The film is about Vikram Singh Played by John Abraham who is assigned the task by Raw chief (played by siddharth Basu) to handle its operations in Sri Lanka, it is about how the mission fails due to betrayal by a senior Raw official. Nargis Fakri plays the role of a war Correspondent who through her sources helps Vikram in getting vital information. The only technical part that is shown in the film is decoding of calls that are intercepts, through which they come to know about a possible attack on the ex Prime Minister, that’s why I feel that reviewing the film is difficult for any critic, probably an ex army officer or a RAW official would have been the right person to judge the film, the story line is a bit confused and fails to create interest, it gives a clear indication that enough research was not done, the possible reason why Rajiv Gandhi was killed is not Known because in 2006 Anton Balasingham a close confidant of V Prabhakaran had described the Killing of Rajiv Gandhi a great tragedy and they regret their action, so the possible threat that LTTE had from Rajiv Gandhi was the success of operation cactus launched by the Indian army which foiled the attempt of a coup in Maldives in which a smaller Tamil separatist outfit People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam was involved, so they could have shown that as a motive behind the assassination. The film maker could have shown how the suicide bomber was brain washed and the political scenario in Sri Lanka which was struggling due to the civil war but still was not happy with India’s interference. The only thing the film maker focused on was the D Day that was 21/05/1991 the day Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated and the regret of the character Vikram Singh for failing in saving the life of the Prime Minister. The media Knows that John Abraham has a crush on Priyanka Gandhi probably he made a film on her father’s assassination to get her attention.

My View My Review :- Ajay Devgan is back as Bajirao Singham, an upright officer who is now promoted as DCP of the Mumbai police. Unlike it is shown in the prequel, this time he doesn’t have to waste time dealing with corruption that is prevelent within the system, on the contrary the Mumbai police is shown as a disciplined force and united like one family, Rohit Shetty’s efforts to build a positive image of the Mumbai police is evident in Singham Returns, but the filmmaker has unknowingly shown that even the police force is a victim of blind belief, I hope in reality the Mumbai police does not sit idle thinking that the blessings of a Sufi phir will take care of all the incidents of robbery taking place in the city. Bajirao Singham has a tougher task this time as he has to locks horns with a fake godman essayed by Amol Gupte who along with a corrupt politcian( Zakir Hussain) is involved in hoarding black money and their men are armed with some of the most deadly wepons. Amol Gupte’s getup remindes me of the contoversial god man Chandraswami, who made headlines throughout the 90s and was accused of repeated financial irregularities. The budget of the film must surely have gone up as the number of cars reduced to pieces are far more in numbers in comparison to the prequel. Kareena Kapoor’s role is quite opposite to her figure conscious, low appetite image, she eats everything that her hands can lay on, it seems Kareena was roped in to add some comedy flavor which unfortunately failed miserably, it would have hardly made any difference even if the film didn’t had a female lead. Ajay Devgan is at his best ,certain things that I found common in the prequel and sequel is Singham’s style of walking directly into the villain’s den, striking fear in the hearts of all those who are on the wrong side of law. Action sequence is too good and exchange of fire between the police force and badmen is lively,actor Dayanand Shetty who is seen in Television series CID and is considred a specialist in breaking doors does the same act with ease, very true! Practice makes a man perfect. I wont say that Singham Returns is better than Singham but the sequel deserves an audience, a lot is already spoken about the Song Ata Majhi Satakli sung by Yo Yo Honey Singh so I wont comment on that, but I liked the new title song sung by Mika, it is not part of the film but is played during the interval, the lyrics describes and glorifies Singham’s style, quality and nature, I would call it a Singham Chalisa.

My Review On the Film Review of the film Mardaani Bollywood has always maintained good relations with the Mumbai police, it may be a matter of coincidence but this year we have two back to back films in the month of August dedicated to the Mumbai police, last week we saw Ajay Devgan roaring at the box office as Singham, this week we have Rani Mukharjee starrer Mardaani in which Rani as a police officer is seen dealing with a serious issue of human trafficking. In the film Rani Mukharjee essays the role of Shivani Shivaji Roy a dare devil cop who elegantly juggles her professional career and personal life, things are normal untill a teenage girl named Pyaari whom she treats like her own niece goes missing from a shelter home. Determined to crack down the case Shivani Roy starts investigating the matter and succesfully bursts a racquet that is involved in Kidnapping teenage girls and pushing them into flesh trade, surprisingly Karan Rastogi alias Walt (Tahir Raj Basin) the kingpin who runs the sex trafficking buisness in an organized manner is in his mid twenties and is seen threatening the victim in English, usually people in our country don’t expect criminals and masterminds of anti social activities to be elitish,Karan Rastogi(Tahir Raj Bhasin) and his close aides look like actors who are suitable to be in films based on college life. But if we think that it is a casting error them we are wrong, we need to understand that times have changed, gone are the days when children of criminals were school dropouts like their parents, the character, Karan Rastogi is a second generation criminal who has the backing of his evil minded mother, Manju Rastogi, who is a veteran in the business. Rani and Tahir Raj Bhasin have done a great job, as I didn’t have much information about Tahir, I went through his profile which states that he has taken rigourous training in body language and behavioural analytics at the Institute of Advanced Acting and Behavioural Studies and trust me his academical knowledge came handy, his body language and gestures were too good. The filmmakers deserve a compliment for touching a sensitive subject, people from all classes go to red light areas, permit rooms and dance bars for sexual pleasure but nobody cares to know from where these girls are brought in for their service,the common answer that these girls give is helplessness (Majboori) but it is hard to believe that all the prostitutes have landed in the trade due to financial problem. Rani Mukharjee’s role has the potential to inspire millions of women who feel insecured in this male dominated society, however her foul language raises concern and I hope it does not become part of the Women’s empowerment curriculam because be it male or female abusive language doesn’t go well with anybody’s personality.