Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Teaser

Directed by Karan Johar, with a cast boasting of Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Anushka Sharma and Fawad Khan, ADHM trailer looks very interesting. Enjoy!

PINK Official Trailer

Shoojit Sircar presents PINK, directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, who has directed Bengali films thus far, including the stellar Antaheen and Anuranan. Pink is a crime thriller and I like what I see so far! Here is the trailer, enjoy.

Shivaay Official Trailer

Directed by Ajay Devgn, Shivaay is his second film as a director, earlier being Raju Chacha. Impressively shot, going by the trailer, the film promises to be a thrilling ride. Enjoy.

Fandom vs Stardom. My Review. Fan

Director : Maneesh Sharma

Starring : Shahrukh Khan, Waluscha de Sousa, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Deepika Amin, Yogendra Tikoo, Sayani Gupta

For a Shahrukh fan like me, seeing him doing one mindless, garish film after another pained me. I knew he is better… I knew because I love Mohan Bhargava, Surinder Sahni, Kabir Khan, Raj Mathur, Ajay Sharma, Sunil… even the many Raj and Rahuls…

The question that kept coming up in my head was does HE still know it? believes it, is pained by the lack of such characters in his filmography today?

Seems like he did, after all he is one of the most intelligent actors in Bollywood. Sharp brained and tongued… with the announcement of Fan and Raees, I felt a flutter of hope.. that I would see the other side of SRK, where he would again show us why we love him, why despite him being mostly typecast, he keeps reminding us time and again that given a good script and a nuanced role, in the hands of a skilled director, he can, and does deliver.

Fan gives us a very interesting though not totally unique premise; what happens when a Superstar’s fan turns into his ultimate foe, with the doppelgänger angle making it even more compelling.

Shahrukh as Gaurav Chandna, runs a cyber café in Delhi, belongs to a middle class family, an only son. But his world is Aryan Khanna (Shahrukh in a double role) the superstar of Bollywood. Gaurav is a diehard fan, who hangs on to every word spoken by his idol… his love gaining strength and confidence when his star openly declares “mere fans ke bina main kuch nahi”. Add to it the twist of fate that he is a spitting image of his screen god Aryan, barring rather large jutting out teeth. He has mastered every dialogue, every move of Aryan, and is a multiple time winner of a local acting competition. Now his only dream is to go and meet Aryan on his birthday and give him the trophy he has won… and hug him. But to his shock and disillusionment, the Aryan Khanna of his dreams, his love and adulation turns out to be cold, standoffish and downright snubbing. This is despite the fact that Gaurav took revenge from a star threatening to sue Aryan for assault. What Gaurav in his blind love for Aryan doesn’t realise and refuses to comprehend is that he crossed a line, committed a crime and Aryan Khanna tells him “Tum hote kaun ho mere liye kuch karne wale” After being told that “Main apni life ke paanch second bhi tumhe kyon doon” something breaks forever inside Gaurav, love turns into obsession and he swears to destroy Aryan Khanna. Thus the chase begins. Will Aryan Khanna be able to stop Gaurav and get his life back is what the hook is.

Shahrukh delivers a dil se performance as Gaurav Chandna. After a LONG time, I found him surrendering to the character, investing in it and becoming it. A brilliant cyber café scene is my favorite in the film. The body language, the dialogue delivery, the Dillipan, Shahrukh is in full form, both as a loving fan and an obsessed man bent on revenge. But as Aryan Khanna, I found him at times disinterested, lacking in energy. Even so, he doesn’t fail to impress in certain sequences. 

This film for me works only because of one thing, Shahrukh Khan. Him standing and greeting his fans at Mannat… reminds you yet again of his badshah status. 

What lets down the film in various places is the lazy writing, illogical contrived plot points and one of the most terrible supporting cast in recent times. Waluscha playing Aryan Khanna’s wife is so inept, Deepika Amin hams her way through, even Tikoo who was brilliant in Neerja, finds himself struggling.  The actor playing Sid Kapoor, cringe inducing bad. Shriya Pilgaonkar, though a natural performer, didn’t convince me as Dilliwali kudi. The person who fit well was Sayani Gupta playing AK’s secretary.

There are some stand out moments in the film, specially between Gaurav and AK, but I wish there were more.

The premise could have easily lend itself to a thoroughly gripping, tight thriller, but what it ends up being is a half-hearted attempt. The idea of two equally stubborn men, refusing to give in, the who- blinks-first game, the emotional layering of a Superstar accepting they are perceived as public property because what got them to that celebrity status is the public, aah.. so many possibilities, few explored in the film. Aryan Khanna, who is a rags to riches story, common dilli ka launda turned megastar, when turns around and behaves almost like a jerk with Gaurav, I couldn’t find any answers in the narrative for this cold persona, wish they had created a more fleshed out character.

This is one film where I feel even the director is let down by the writing. 

There are no songs in the film, and I was disappointed with the complete omission of the much promoted Fan Anthem. The background score is extremely average, at times a total fail. The cinematography is a plus. 

So go watch the film for Shahrukh, who returns and wins.

My Verdict 2.5/5

Scar tissue. My Review. Kapoor And Sons (Since 1921)

Director: Shakun Batra

Starring: Rishi Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah, Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Malhotra, Fawad Khan

There are no perfectly happy families. Happiness is not the usual state of any human for that matter. And yet we seek that most fervently, and hide behind the façade that keeps getting stronger, with each layer, each compromise, each forced smile, each lie.

Secrets, don't we all have them. No relationship is hundred percent transparent, and sometimes, secrets are kept from the ones we love the most to protect them… and at times for selfish reasons… Secrets which can destroy a family. That is when relationships are tested… will they survive?

Shakun Batra brings to us a family that in one word is Dysfunctional, where everyone is trying very hard to “Function”.  

The notion of a family, a normal Indian family… with a doting mother, a father who is the provider, elders who are now leading a sedate life, kids who are devoted and follow the path shown by their parents.. We are conditioned to believe our parents can do no wrong. We put them on pedestals. They also try and fit in the defined role models... expecting their progeny to fit in too… with expectations and plans for their perfect future.

 But human.. ah… that’s what they all are, individuals buried under the expectations, trying to fit in the mould, flawed, jagged, broken. And here lies the tale of Kapoor and Sons.

Dadu (Rishi Kapoor) who play acts his death so much that no one now really pays attention when he pretends to die at the breakfast table, the son (Rajat Kapoor) continues doing his accounts and his wife (Ratna Pathak Shah) continues nagging him about his inability to earn.

The equations are set from the opening scene itself. What they didn’t see coming was an actual heart attack. Dadu is admitted to the hospital and the sons Rahul (Fawad Khan) and Arjun (Sidharth Malhotra) are called back to Coonoor. And slowly we realise nothing is functioning in this family relationship-wise. The brothers have a history, their relationship strained. Rahul seems to be the apple of the eye of both the parents, a son that can do no wrong. Arjun on the other hand seems to be a constant disappointment, especially to the father. The bickering parents only add to the tension, and then there is Dadu, who despite being bed ridden at the ripe old age of 90, in contrast to everyone is full of zest, a joie de vivre. He has two wishes he wants his grandsons to fulfill, an Army burial after his death and a Family photograph with all present, before he dies.  His other son is traveling and they all await his and his family’s arrival. Meanwhile Dadu’s 90^th birthday is coming up, a big party is planned. Enter Tia (Alia Bhatt) who owns an estate and is briefly visiting to sell it off. She bumps into Arjun, and they instantly strike it off. She also meets a prospective buyer of her estate, who turns out to be Rahul. She hits it off with him too!! A love triangle seems to emerge… while all the romance and bonhomie is happening.. layers are unfolded.. We get to know why Rahul and Arjun cannot be in the same room without a fight erupting, what is troubling their parents’ marriage, what is the guilt of the mother and the reality of a son... and many more secrets that threaten to come tumbling out. As we go deeper and deeper into the truth of each character… we realise nothing is what it seems to be.

Without going into spoilers, let me just say, some of the plot twists are predictable, yet by that time you are so invested that they affect you nonetheless. As each character’s struggle, emotional curve is revealed, you wonder whether this family will remain one… will that family portrait will ever be clicked, because they just don’t seem to fit in any frame, the distance between them too much…

On the acting front, the force that is Ratna Pathak Shah is unleashed in all its glory. You love her, you hate her, you cry with her… A performance that left me in awe. Fawad Khan is a discovery for me. He also made a very brave choice playing the character he did. Bollywood heroes with their images to maintain would have shied away from it, well most of them. He brings the character of a troubled writer, who is stuck after a first hugely successful novel… not a word coming out of him to page. Sidharth Malhotra plays the vulnerable younger brother well, who feels no one cares for him, that he is always going to be a lesser son, a loser in the eyes of his father, a writer who is yet to publish, but is weighed down by blocks of his own. They both share great chemistry, and their scenes together are believable and feel real. Alia is good, but frankly for me her track was just padding, not really important to the main story of the film. But she does bring oodles of fresh energy and charm to the going ons. Rajat Kapoor is controlled and in fine shape, his and Ratna’s scenes crackle, his craft shines through subtly. Their marriage so real, a couple so believable… a rare thing to see. Coming to Rishi Kapoor, he is playing himself I thought, cheeky, naughty and unabashed. He is having a ball and it is obvious. What touches you is his turn towards the end... And I must admit, I cried many a times... thinking of each one of them, their fate at the hand of human folly.

The story is fresh in the Indian context, though I could clearly see influences of many films.  It loses pace at times, but delivers well. The dialogues are delightful. 

Well done Shakun Batra. You have put life in each scene... a director in superb control.

GO meet this family!

My verdict : 3/5